Playing Death
by imaginationstarie13
Summary: While Frank trys to overcome the psychological pain, he and Joe must figure out if there's a murderer in a group of River Heights exchange students. Sequel to "Secret Killer"
1. Chapter 1

Yay! Tis a sequel to "Secret Killer". Thank you everyone who reviewed it!

Some notes before you start reading this...  
1) I do not own the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
2) I'm not the biggest Nancy Drew fan. Due to this, I kind of forgotten bits and pieces about her whole story thing (I still know the basic plot, though). But I will say this: If any bad guy wants to get rid of her in any future books, please do not lock her up in a pantry full of food, even if it's for a weekend. I looked over the Super Mystery "Where's Nancy?", and thought it was a bit sad that this had happened.  
3) I have not read any of the books where the Hardys meet Nancy Drew. I've browsed some sites, and read something about them meeting up at a rock concert in the newer version. I think it might be a bit more believable that their fathers know each other, since laywers and PIs usually work together  
4) Some states that get snow have a February winter break. I don't know why really, it's just there.

Well, enjoy!

* * *

~Joe

I never expected to become an older brother. That was always Frank's job. I was supposed to be the one everyone fussed over, because I was the immature one (something I would never admit out loud, of course).

Frank was never supposed to be the one always under watch, either.

"No, no…"

"Frank, it's okay." It's one in the morning, about four days into February winter break. I had been woken up by my brother having another nightmare. There was not one time where my brother could stay asleep for a few hours without having a nightmare from Stacy's hypnotism.

I guess this should be expected. That bitch hypnotized my brother to imagine some of the closest people to him stabbing him over and over. His mind was tricked into feeling all of that pain, making the mental scars deeper. Now, he couldn't even look at the people he had imagined that tortured him.

After a few more moments of shaking him, Frank finally woke up. The second he saw me, he groaned and hit the covers. "Again?"

"If I say yes, would you feel better?"

"Why can't I break free from this crap? It's ruining my life!"

"That's why Stacy did it in the first place, bro. She wanted to torment you for as long as you live, even though she planned to kill you a few hours later." I tried to read his expression, but it was hard since I didn't bother turning on the lights.

"It's just so frustrating."

"Including the part where Mom won't let Dad walk around the house at certain times because she wants you to move around instead of hiding in your room?"

A long, dramatic sigh answered my question. "I'm mad at Dad, but I don't want to torture him like this."

"Yes you do. Your inner evil commands you to be… evil."

"I don't have an inner evil, Joe."

"Yes you do. You just let it loose when you think no one is looking."

Frank pushed me off the bed, causing me to meet the ground very loudly. "See! Right there!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. You fell off the bed, remember?"

"I hate you sometimes." I got up from the floor. "You better now?"

"Yeah, thanks." Frank turned over in his bed. "You shouldn't have checked on me, though. I know how much you love your sleep."

"Please, if you think I'm gonna let you go have a nightmare in the middle of the night… well…" This was probably one of those rare moments when I couldn't think of something to end the threat. If I could even call it a threat.

"I get the idea, thanks."

A few minutes later, I was tossing in my own bed, trying to fall back asleep. _Well, at east Frank isn't screaming in his head_ I thought silently.

--------------

Another day, another awkward moment in the family.

Our mom had set up rules to help Frank deal with living in this house while he tried to recover. Mainly, it consisted of either Frank staying in his room or Dad in his study.

Was there any better way for us to deal with this problem? Truthfully, yes. Was I gonna try to think of this new, better way? Hell no.

"Are you two going anywhere?" Mom asked. At the moment, it was the end of Dad's turn to stay in the study.

"I need to get some shopping done," I admitted. "Review book for geometry."

"Psychologist appointment," Frank said, getting up from his seat. He brought his plate to the sink. "I won't be back till dinner."

"Okay sweetie." Mom watched Frank leave the house, and finally tore her gaze from him when he left the driveway in her car. She then turned her attention to me. "Is Frank okay?"

"Better than he was on Friday." I took another bite of pancakes.

"Are you sure? He stayed out of the house for the past few days, and insists on being left alone…"

"He's not alone, Mom. He's got me and Phil-"

"Phil's helping too?"

Crap. I forgot that Frank hadn't told Mom about his relationship with Phil yet. "Yeah… Kinda…"

"Joseph Hardy, are you not telling me something?"

Mom would know if I lied. She has this freakish power of knowing sometimes. I personally blame the research librarian in her. "Mayyyybe."

She sighed. "Should I let Frank tell me?"

"Yep."

"Okay, I think I get it." She got up from the table as Dad walked into the room. "Just try to get Frank to be more open. He doesn't talk to anyone besides you and Phil, and it isn't good for a victim suffering mental pain to-"

"To close up and try to deal with the plain alone. You've told me about a hundred times, Mom."

"Well, another few hundred doesn't hurt."

I clutched my heart and pretended to be in pain. "It was one time too many, Mom!" I did dramatic groans of pain, and ended it with a shriek and fell from my chair.

Truthfully, I was trying to fall on to the table. But I lost my balance and hit the floor. Not like I'm gonna tell my mom that, though…

"Joe…" Mom shook her head, smiling, and went to the stove. "Want anything to eat, Fenton?"

"Pancakes, please." Dad turned his attention to me as I tried to get back into my chair. "So, Joe, what's happenin'?"

My dad was trying to talk "hip," which could only mean two things. Either he was having that midlife crisis earlier than Frank and I thought he would, or he was trying to bond after all the crap that happened. I really hoped that it was the latter, because I didn't want to deal with Dad myself.

"Not much." I tried to concentrate on eating my pancakes.

"Well, do you need any help with anything? I have the time."

"No, I'm fine." I quickly finished what was left of my breakfast. I washed my plate, and went to my room to grab my coat and wallet. All while trying to distance myself from my father.

It wasn't like I hated my father. That right was reserved to Frank, even though he won't show that anger. I just… wanted to stay away from him. It was hard for me to deal with Dad. I once looked up to him. He was this awesome detective that I tried to compare myself to. But after the way he ignored us while trying to understand that Frank's gay, then Stacy's hypnotism trick on my brother…

I just wasn't ready to deal with Dad.

I took the keys to Dad's car, and drove to the mall. I really wanted to go on my motorcycle, but there was still a fair amount of snow and ice outside. Not to mention the fact that it was freezing…

The bookstore was relatively empty. I guess people would rather sleep in or get ready for work than spend time here. I managed to find a decent review book and pay for it before bumping into anyone I knew.

"Hey Joe!" I turned to see Callie walking towards me.

"Aren't you supposed to be at 'camp'?"

"Camp" was the lie Ivy and Callie told their parents to let them go to the ATAC training place. It was about an hour from here, and they were supposed to stay the whole week to become temporary agents.

"They sent us back early. They gave us a whole bunch of books to go over to finish the course." Callie shrugged before grabbing the review book out of my hand.

"Hey!"

"Geometry? Hated that class." She handed back the book. "So glad I finished that class last year."

"But don't you have calculus now?"

"Good point." Callie stuck out her tongue in disgust. "Just as bad. So, how's Frank?"

"He's doing a little better. He's at the psychologist right now. She think she might be able to figure out how to stop the effects by today."

"Hope she does." Callie looked over my shoulder. "Don't look now."

"You know I gonna look now that you told me to."

"It's Chet."

"Great." I turned around, and sure enough, Chet was walking towards us, a pile of hobby books in hand.

"Hey Joe! Callie," he greeted us.

Neither of us responded, so Chet continued to talk. "So, you guys having a good break?"

The anger in me slowly bubbled. "Depends. Does good mean that my brother is seeing a psychologist every day because he can't stand looking at some people without having a breakdown? Especially when the list includes you?"

"What?" An expression of amazement appeared on his face. "Is it because of the joke?"

"Yeah, 'joke.'" The prank that he pulled on Frank was not a joke. It was to make my brother look like a joke. "Well, it was nice talking to you, Chet." I flashed a fake smile, then left the store through the mall entrance.

"Joe!" I ignored Chet's call, continuing on towards the food court.

"Joe, slow down." Callie ran up to catch to me. "You okay?"

I headed over to the giant balcony window at the edge of the food court. It had begun to snow again, the white powder erasing some of the landscape.

"No," I admitted. "I'm not sure if I'll be alright ever again. Not until Frank is completely better, and we leave this place behind in our dust."


	2. Chapter 2

There's a lot of banter and rambles here...  
I don't own Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
Enjoy!

* * *

~Frank

The psychologist that I was sent to was Dr. Stellar. I had visited her since Friday, ever since ATAC decided they were responsible for my mental breakdown. She worked for them on and off, and had agreed immediately to help me.

We talked a bunch during the sessions. Mostly, it was me rambling and her taking notes. But this session was a bit different than usual.

"I think I figured out what's the cause of your pain," Dr. Stellar said as I took the seat opposite of her.

"Um… Didn't Stacy cause it?"

She sighed. "What I meant was why those people were targeted by your mind. You said that you couldn't bring yourself to imagine some people hurting you, while others just came in an instant."

"Yeah…"

"All the people on the list that you made, you hate in some way, right?"

I thought about it for a second. All the people I had imagined I considered as my friend. But then again… I had been upset with them before Stacy got to me. "Yeah, I guess…"

"That hatred is the base for the breakdowns. You have to release that anger if you want to overcome the effects of the hypnotism."

Already, the task seemed impossible. Sure, it might sound simple. But I had realized something ever since I talked to Joe last night. I hated people I thought I could never even begin to dislike. I denied it, but deep inside I was furious.

"That's gonna be a problem." I looked down at the maroon carpet. "I mean, I think I might have gotten over some of the anger and all, but there are some people…"

"I know it might be a challenge, but you have to let go of that anger."

"How? Just wish it away?"

"Anger goes away over time."

"I have school in five days," I pointed out. "And I live with my Dad every day."

"Well, you should try to talk to your father. Have your brother there to support you."

I felt like saying this was bull. If this woman had been listening to me at all for the past few days, she would know I didn't want to talk to my father any time soon. "Sure, I'll try."

Please let this session be over soon…

-----------

An hour later, I left the building. I drove the car to Phil's house, where Ivy's car was already parked in front of the place.

"Already back?" I asked as Ivy answered the door.

"Yeah. The second I get home, Phil called me to come over and help him." She closed the door behind me, and I put my cost into the closet next to the door.

"With what?"

"You think I know? I just got here, and Phil ran up to his room without saying anything but 'hello,'" She sighed. "How're the appointments with the doc going?"

"Not so well at the moment." I briefly explained the last session I had. "So, how do I talk to a man who probably hasn't accepted the fact that I'm as straight as circle?"

"'Straight as a circle'? Where did you come up with that?"

"I didn't. Joe's been saying that all week."

"You listen to Joe? Something must be wrong with you then," she commented as she headed towards the stairs.

"Yeah, I figured." I followed her up into Phil's room. "Whoa."

Ivy scanned the room. "A tornado?"

Phil looked up from the pile of clothes he was bringing over towards his bed. "Um… maybe?"

"Time to clean your room?" I asked, looking at all of the piles of clothes, books, papers, and art supplies everywhere.

"Pretty much. I was trying to reorganize my clothes, since my cousin finally got over his Goth and punk phase, and sent me all of his stuff."

"You're going punk now? Never thought I would see the day." Ivy maneuvered around the piles.

"My mom won't let me. She's letting me keep some of the stuff, and I have to give the rest away." Phil shot a smile at me.

"No way…"

"It's not too bad, Frank! The crazy pieces stayed with my cousins." Phil pointed to a box near the door. "Go ahead and look. They won't bite."

"That's what he says," Ivy added darkly.

I walked around the piles and managed to get to the box without falling over. I opened it, to find an array of black clothing and shiny silver chains and such adorning them.

Ivy hopped over a pile of paints. "Wow. I think I can actually imagine you wearing this stuff, Frank."

"Really? Because I can't."

"You don't know until you try."

"I'm not gonna try."

She sighed. "Now I know why Phil invited me over. Come on, it won't be so bad."

"So you say."

Ivy went through the box, picking out a button down, black and white horizontal striped shirt, a pair of black jeans, and a black tie. "Go and try these on."

I looked at the clothes, trying to imagine myself in them. "Do I really have to?"

"Yes, you do." She pushed me towards the door. "Go!"

I came back a few minutes later, dressed up in all of the black clothes. _Why do I listen to Ivy again?_ I thought silently. I looked like I was going to a funeral or something!

"It actually suits you a bit. Kind of the whole 'stay away from me' vibe you've been giving off for a while," Ivy commented.

"I have?"

"Yeah." She turned to Phil. "Well?"

"I like it." He got up from hunching over a large pile of books. "Very dark and mysterious."

"Thanks a bunch." I felt myself blushing. "Do you two really imagine me wearing these clothes at all, though?"

"You will," Ivy said, as if it were obvious. "You're gonna let loose and be a goth-ish figure."

"No, I'm not."

"I would bet, except I'm broke."

"Thanks, Ivy," I said sarcastically.

Phil shook his head. "I never knew you guys were such good friends."

"Thanks for noticing." Ivy sighed dramatically. "You'll join the dark side soon, Frank. We have cookies."

"I'm on a diet."

"Really?"

"No."

"Note to self; don't invite Frank and Ivy over at the same time," Phil said, bringing a box to his closet. "Can you two drop the argument long enough to help me?"

Ivy and I shared a look, before chorusing "Nope!"

"Love you too."

A ringing ended our conversation, and Phil attempted to reach for his cell phone on his desk. _Attempted_ being the key word. Instead, he landed face down after tripping over a pile of art books.

"Nice." Ivy reached out, grabbed the phone and took a glance at the screen, before flipping it open.

"You shouldn't be talking," I mumbled, helping Phil up. "Answering other people's phones and all."

"Shh!" She put up her hand to signal me to be quiet. After a moment, she said "We're at Phil's. See you in a bit."

"Well?" Phil asked, snatching his phone back from her.

"Another mission," Ivy said. "Joe and Callie ran into Vijay in the mall, and got a nice package with our new assignment."

---------------

We all crowded around Phil's computer, after managing to clean up enough space for us to actually stand. The present that Vijay had given my brother was on the bed, holding some gadgets that would be of some use later.

"Phil, how do you live here?" Callie asked. "It's worse than Joe's room!"

"Hey! You never saw my room!" Joe protested.

"I visited your house weeks ago so Frank and I could do a project. It was kinda hard not to notice all of the trash thrown around."

"That was not trash!"

"Yeah, right." Callie rolled her eyes.

Ivy cleared her throat. "We have a mission to be briefed on, if you two remembered."

"Sorry."

"Now then…"

"You sound like a teacher," I said.

"You look like a rebel."

"You all are gonna be helping me clean if I don't get to put in this disc in a second!" Phil snatched the disc from Callie and popped it into the computer.

"You shouldn't have made it a complete mess in the first place," I mumbled, turning my head and observing the mess. "How does cleaning your closet become Joe's room?"

"HEY!"

Thee rest of Joe's words were cut off as the monitor turned completely black. Within a few seconds, a picture of a girl that appeared to be our age appeared on the screen, smiling a brilliant smile.

"Uh oh," Joe whispered. Joe and I had enough experience to know that this first picture was the picture of most likely a murdered victim.

Sure enough, the picture morphed into a cold corpse, wrists covered in blood. But something seemed off about it. The cuts were clean and simple, not like any other victims I had seen so far.

"It looks like she committed suicide," Phil said, ghosting his fingers over the screen of where the cuts were.

"I dunno. It looks like a combination of the two," Ivy said, tilting her head. "There's something off in it."

I pointed to the knife that was grasped in the dead hand. "That's it. Only the blade is covered in blood. She has blood all over her hands from the bleeding, but the handle is untouched."

Callie pointed at the girl's other hand. "She's holding a chess piece, I think. It looks like either the queen or king." I stared at the little bit of black plastic that could be seen from the picture. It did look like a chess piece, now that Callie mentioned it…

The voice of our contact came from the speakers. _"You are looking at a picture of Adria Fox, found dead at the outskirts of River Heights, Illinois."_

Joe and I exchanged a look. A group of River Heights kids, including Nancy Drew and some of her friends, were in an exchange program with our school. There was some long story behind it involving the principals, but long story short, the odd exchange program developed. Basically, a huge group of River Heights kids would come over, occupy some apartments that the local college didn't need, and stay here until June. Bayport kids would do the same the following year, and so on. I almost signed up for it last year, but the ATAC missions were more important to me.

"Think Nancy heard about this case already?" Joe asked. I shrugged as the contact continued.

_"Most of the River Heights community thinks that Adria committed suicide. Her parents, however, are fully convinced that someone murdered their daughter. They aren't the only ones. We here at ATAC have found something disturbing that is almost proof that Adria was killed."_

"I hope they mean something besides the knife and blood thing," Ivy muttered darkly.

A picture of a king chess piece appeared on the screen. _"After some analysis, it was discovered that something was inscribed on the piece. By putting it under a magnifying glass-"_ A digital magnifying glass appeared on screen, hovering over the base of the piece. _"-it was shown that it was a message."_

I read it out loud. "'She lost the game.'"

_"We believe the murderer might be in the exchange program in order to distance themselves long enough until the case dies down. Frank and Joe, you two know some of the people in the program. Try to find out information from them, and as a group, determine if the murderer is among them or not. If so, bring them to justice."_

_"As usual, the disc will be erased in five… four… three… two… one…"_

A heavy metal rock band began to pour out of the speakers as we all looked at each other, silent.


	3. Chapter 3

Lots of dialogue here... Talkitive people...  
I do not own Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.

Enjoy!

* * *

~Joe

Frank said nothing as he took the disc out of the computer. He walked over to the bed and grabbed the box that Vijay had given me before saying anything.

"Any first impressions?"

I thought it over for a second. "We didn't get much off the briefing."

"We got plenty," Ivy said. "The actions tell a lot about a person."

"Ivy's right. You can get a bunch out of the video," Callie agreed.

"Is it a female thing?"

"It's a drama thing, thank you very much." Ivy flipped her hair out of annoyance. "One of the things that the drama class offers is learning how to read into people's emotions and ideas. Knowing that, you can portray the character better."

"Sounds like English class analysis."

"That's where I learned it. Mrs. Allen was big on it last year." Callie picked up a highlighter from Phil's desk. "Pretend this is a knife, for the sake of this conversation."

"And the blood is all the yellow ink, right?"

She took another pen from Phil's stuff, and threw it at me. "_Anyways_…"

"Don't need to throw 'knives' at people."

"Shut it. Anyways, Ivy, would you like to assist me?"

"Sure." Ivy walked closer to Callie, avoiding the piles of books near the desk.

"It is a female thing, isn't it?"

Callie ignored me completely this time. "Let's say Ivy's Adria, and I'm the killer. Adria would have to have been drugged or knocked unconscious to have allowed her wrists to be cut so neatly."

"So she was most likely lured into a false sense of security," Phil said. "Maybe a friend?"

"Maybe. Thing is, whoever did this obviously had a backup plan, even though they have no experience in committing crimes."

"How'd you get that?" I asked.

"The chess piece. They were worried that someone wouldn't believe that Adria committed suicide, so they had her hold the chess piece, giving a message that is eerie and all," Callie explained. "It would scare people, and you know mass chaos is soon to follow."

"Oh. So, why'd you make Ivy stand up?"

"I'm getting there. Ivy, can you sit down and be unconscious?"

"I'll sit down, but can I stay conscious?"

"I really hate you all right now." Ivy did as Callie requested, so any other threats were kept silent. "So, I cut her wrists-" Callie used the capped highlighter to make slow, neat slashing motions, "-but it was done precisely, so the person obviously had time. It must have been planned. Also, they must have either watched Adria bleed, or have left. That's the only way that the blood could have dried before the knife was placed in her hand."

"But the backup plan?" I asked.

This time, Frank answered. "Made it look like a suicide, but also had the chess piece. She just explained it, Joe."

"Sorry. It's hard to pay attention to Cal sometimes."

Frank rolled his eyes as Ivy got up. "You have a death wish, don't you little bro?"

"Maybe. So, what's in the box?"

He turned and dumped the continents onto the bed. "Some files, pen-laser, and…" He picked up a small tube. "Test strips to identify substances."

"Are the items usually so… random?" Ivy asked.

"Sometimes," I admitted.

"Sometimes we don't get anything at all," Frank added. "I say this was one of our lucky days."

"Unless they're trying to tell you something," Callie said. "Like the River Heights kids are gonna make it that much harder on us."

"True." Frank shook his head, and pulled at his tie. "That's it, I'm getting out of these stupid clothes."

"But-"

"No, Ivy."

"Huff, then." She sat down back on the floor, as Phil shrugged.

"I have to get rid of them later, but whatever."

I held my hand to my mouth, and whispered loudly to Callie. "The power of love- Hey!"

Frank finished overturning the box holding all of the other gothic clothes on my head. Then, he put the whole box on me to wear like a hat before I heard him walk away.

"Brotherly love, right?" Callie asked.

"Shut up."

-----------------

We managed to get home a few hours before dinner. Phil had brought up some articles about Adria's death on the computer, but we didn't learn much. Frank had also gone through the files, which some of it turned out to be the last portion of the girl's diary. All the signs pointed to her being a very happy girl, rather than a suicidal one.

We also helped Phil clean his room a bit.

"So," I began as we entered the living room, "what do you make of the case so far?"

"I don't blame ATAC for thinking that the murderer is among the exchange group. Perfect opportunity to escape the cops and all for a while, until the whole thing simmers down. And with everyone thinking it was suicide…"

"Less time for the ideas of murder to disappear."

Frank took the photo of the chess piece out from the folder. "Not all of this made public, I assume. Otherwise, everyone would be thinking differently."

"Weird, isn't it? You'd think the media would be all over this."

"Who knows?" He put the picture back. "Sometimes, police hush over details to either stop widespread panic or simply because the media would have too much of a field day."

"Or maybe their scared to admit it themselves."

"That too."

"So… are you gonna bring it up with Nancy? She seems to talk to you easier than with me." I'm pretty sure Nancy Drew had a crush on my brother. So far, almost _all_ of the girls we've met had crushes on him. Maybe they'll stop once they find out he swings a different way…

"And what? Have Ned try to kill me?"

"You're _gay_. If anything, Nancy might try to deck you for looking at Ned."

"Thanks a lot." Frank rolled his eyes. "How about a group get together thing? Nancy and her friends, and us with the other three…"

"Sort of a 'get to know you' thing, which is really an interrogation in disguise! Awesome plan!"

My brother frowned. "I never said it was an interrogation."

"You never said it wasn't, either." I smiled. "For all you know, it could end up as a bribing thing. We give them some of Aunt T's cookies, they give us information…"

"Speaking of Aunt Trudy…" Frank left the room for the kitchen, with me following behind. He glanced at the calendar on the fridge. "She's coming back the same day all the River Heights kids are at the airport."

"So we save gas."

"And we have a guest." He pointed at the square marking the day, which was filled with small writing. "Carson Drew's coming too. He and Dad used to work together, so I'm guessing their catching up."

"Couldn't they do it over the phone?" I asked, going through the cupboards for a snack.

"It's the same reason why we have family reunions."

"To spend quality time with Cousin Veronica Asshole." I grabbed a box of cookies from the lazy Susan.

"You're still mad at her, aren't you?"

"Seven-year-old girls should not be allowed to dump a bucket of ice down a five- year-old's back!" I shook my head. "So, any plans on how to execute this whole thing? Beg Mom to let us have a party-"

"What party?" I turned around, finding myself face to face with my mother.

"Um, well…"

"We were hoping to have a small get together of sorts," Frank explained. "So Nancy and her friends can meet some people from here before they go to school."

"That would be nice." She crossed her arms, debating the idea in her head. "Who else would you invite?"

"Phil, Callie, Ivy…"

"By the way, Frank, do you have anything to tell me about you and Phil?"

"What? Um…" He shot me a look. I shrugged, before the memory hit me.

Mom took the pleasure to explain. "Joe mentioned you and Phil."

Frank's look turned murderous, as his face grew red. "Really, now?"

"Um… gotta go!" I tried to run out of the room, but Frank grabbed the edge of my shirt.

"Frank, let him go. As long as you're happy, it's okay. We'll talk about it later, though." She took the box of cookies from my hands. "Don't spoil your appetite!"

"But I'm hungry…"

"Eat an apple, then. When your aunt gets back-"

"I know. It's back to being healthy. Unless she makes dessert." I actually smiled at the thought of her chocolate chip cookie pie.

"Even then, she uses wheat flour and cuts the amount of eggs and butter."

"Really?"

Frank, who was still griping my shirt, nodded. "But you wouldn't know, since the last time you tried to bake anything-"

"That was not my fault!"

"How can burning the cookies until they turned into charcoal and making every smoke detector in the house go off _not_ your fault?"

"I blame the voices in my head." I tugged at my shirt. "Let go? Please?"

Frank gave a long, dramatic sigh (I blame Ivy for this, considering she's in drama club and all) and released my shirt.

Our mom smiled. "Well, I guess you guys can have a small get together. Your father probably wants to catch up with Carson."

"Awesome!" I pumped a fist into the air. "Now we just have to wait two days!"

"Thanks, Mom." Frank smiled. "I'm gonna go study now." He slipped out of the room without another word.

"Are you sure he's okay, Joe?" Mom asked as soon as Frank got out of earshot. "There's something still off about him."

"I… I'm not sure." It dawned on me that Frank hadn't said a word about his appointment with the psychologist earlier today, which felt a bit odd. Usually, he told me about things like this.

Why did it seem like instead of coming closer, we were drifting farther apart?

* * *

Joe murdered the poor cookies...


	4. Chapter 4

I feel bad for Frank... Oh well.  
I don't own Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
Enjoy!

* * *

~Frank

I sat on my bed, going through the files again. There was something wrong with one of the entries… But what was it?

I placed the papers on my desk after a few minutes, and turned on the computer. I surfed some websites before finding one of the articles about Adria's funeral. There had been quite a few pictures taken of all the students looking at the casket being lowered into the ground. One person stood out almost instantly.

_Nancy was there._

Were they friends? Did she believe Adria's death was more than suicide?

My email window popped open, with a new message from Callie.

_Frank,_

_I forgot to ask, what did the psychologist say to you today? You seemed bummed out when you were at Phil's._

_Callie_

I browsed through the pictures that Ivy had sent earlier without really looking at them. It helped me try to think if I should tell Callie or not. I mean, I didn't tell Joe about it at all…

Why didn't I tell Joe? Was I worried that it would just strain him more? Or was I still upset at him?

After looking through about thirty pictures, I responded to Callie.

_The psychologist told me I had to confront the people. Especially my father. What the hell do I do?_

The response to that came quickly.

_Well, maybe you can get the anger to work against you. Get so angry that you stop being scared._

That was actually an interesting idea. My fears might have been based off of my anger, but what happens if my anger gets to great…?

Well, there were two possible outcomes. One was that I would end up getting really, really bad nightmares that would scar me till who knows when. The other was that I would overcome the whole issue, but end up bottling all of this anger at certain people.

They both had the pros and cons that I loved and fear. I just didn't know which one to choose.

-------------

I ate alone in my room that night. I couldn't face my family now. Not until I had completed the list.

I typed away furiously, pausing only to eat the meal Mom had made. She seemed disappointed that I wanted to separate myself, but she allowed me to do so.

I didn't want to hurt my family, but I had to if I wanted to heal. If I healed, maybe everything else would fix itself, too. I hoped…

I clicked the "Save" button, and leaned back in my chair. Did I really want to do this?

Hell yeah.

I grabbed a picture frame from the top of my drawer, where I had stuffed most of my stuff into after the nightmares began. It had a picture of Dad with Joe and me when we were around ten. We had been at this amusement park that whole day, and were supposed to go see fireworks. However, right after Mom took the picture, Joe fell into a pool of water, and had managed to drag Dad with him.

The memory made me smile, but the second my eyes gazed at Dad's face, the thoughts that had plagued me returned.

_The knife gleamed under the light. It move back and forth, each time, drawing some of my blood with it…_

Dad's weak. He's messed up. He can't beat me at all…

_The pain is everywhere. I hold up my hands, which get slashed…_

He hates my guts. Why do I even give a damn about him? He's been trying to control my life! He wants to make a freakin' input on all of our missions, has pushed me to take all the toughest classes… then he leaves me because I'm gay!

_He tries again, this time cutting my arms. They gush blood, and everything I see is red… Everywhere…_

He… cannot… control… me…

I flung the picture frame across the room, where it met the wall. The glass shattered all over the area. Thankfully, I didn't throw it anywhere near my bed.

I heard my Mom run up the stairs, probably worried about the noise. I shut off my light quickly, and got into bed. I didn't want to deal with anyone now. No one understood.

--------------

The days passed by quickly. Mom and Dad had offered to pick up Aunt Trudy, Nancy, Mr. Drew, Bess, George, and Ned from the airport. They drove one car, because Carson Drew was supposed to get a rental. That left Joe and me inside the house, trying to prepare.

"Are you sure about the balloons?" Joe asked from behind me. I was in the kitchen, trying to cook some pizza, while he was in the living room, trying to set up chairs along with other things he had deemed "necessary."

"Joe, I'm pretty damn sure that we don't need balloons. Besides, what if Playback starts trying to pop them?"

"That would be bad." My brother took a glance at the parrot, which was sleeping (for once). "Why did we bring it home in the first place?"

"Because its original owner was a criminal, and I felt bad."

"Yeah, well, I feel worse now that it lives with us. Can't believe Aunt Trudy likes the rat with wings."

"That's pigeons, Joe. Not parrots."

"Yeah, because parrots are worse."

I rolled my eyes just as the doorbell rang. "I got it." I left the uncooked pizza on the counter and went to open the door.

"It's almost March, for crying out loud! Why is it still so freakin' cold?!" Callie complained as she entered the house.

"Because it's still February?" I said, taking her bags from her. I noticed that she had gotten a few bags of chips. "And hi to you too."

"Sorry. It's just so damn cold!" She took off her coat, and put it in the closet before following me into the kitchen.

"What, no 'hi' for me?" Joe asked, trailing behind Callie.

"Hola, then."

"No Spanish, please. I got a project due on Monday for that class."

"Well, you don't like English class either, so I don't have much of a choice. Unless you want me to try French or Latin."

"No thank you. It's bad enough that Frank went and learned a billion languages in his own free time."

"I'm right here, you know," I reminded my brother. "And I'm the one cooking the pizza."

"Because you won't let me near the stove."

"Didn't you set off every smoke detector in your house?" Callie asked.

"You told her?!"

"Yeah… What's wrong with spreading stories about little brothers who burn cookies?"

"Everything!"

Callie cleared her throat. "As amusing as this promises to be, there's still something I want to tell you guys. I looked up more stuff about Adria and River Heights in general."

"And? Find anything good?" Joe asked.

"Everyone in her school didn't exactly like her."

"How'd you know that?"

"I checked some blogs out. Apparently, even though many adults respected her intelligence, she made enemies with a bunch of kids in either academics, sports, or just in general."

I tried to process the information. "So… everyone's a suspect?"

"Yeah…" Callie shrugged. "Just thought you guys might want to hear about it before you interrogate the River Height's kids."

"It's not an interrogation, Callie."

"That's not what Joe said."

I stared at my brother. "Are you just trying really hard to scare everyone away?"

"Maybe…"

"Great." I rolled my eyes. "Anything else, Cal?"

"Yeah. Adria also happened to use to date a guy last year, before he dumped her."

"Great, an issue with the love life," Joe said sarcastically.

"It's an issue to us, Joe. She used to date Ned Nickerson."

* * *

How could you Ned?!


	5. Chapter 5

Yay!  
A bit of a notice: I may not update my stories as fast for a bit, because I have to do a lot of writing elsewhere... I'll try, though.  
Still don't own Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
Enjoy!

* * *

~Frank

"Wait. I thought that Ned and Nancy had been dating since, well, forever!" Joe exclaimed.

"Well, 'forever' isn't exactly 'forever' nowadays," Callie said. "Adria wrote all about it in her little blog."

"She recorded her whole life there or somethin'? I thought she already had a diary for that!"

"Blogging makes people famous on the Internet world sometimes. That's probably why you wanted to do it for so long!" I teased Joe.

"Hey! It's a 'social networking site'!"

"Suuuure." I rolled my eyes. "So, why did Ned date her in the first place?"

"He and Nancy went through a tough time, and the broke up for a bit. Ned dated Adria, and Nancy just didn't date. In the end, Ned broke up with Adria and went back to Nancy," Callie explained.

"That must have sucked for both girls. Having the guy break up and come back, break up and come back…" Joe used his hand to make a circular motion. "Nance probably wanted to beat Ned to a pulp…"

A thought crossed my mind. "Or… Nancy could have wanted to go after Adria as revenge. Maybe she was worried that Ned would dump her again!"

"Wait, are you accusing Nancy?!" Joe asked in surprised.

"You never know."

The doorbell rang, pausing our discussion. "I got it."

I walked through the hallway, and opened the door to Phil and Ivy, both holding grocery bags. Phil also had his messenger bag slung across his shoulder. Ivy walked pass me, as Phil stopped to give me a peck on the forehead.

"Perfect timing, you guys. We were just talking about how Nancy might have been the killer," Joe called from the kitchen.

"Why's that?" Ivy asked, shedding her coat.

Callie quickly informed them of the new information. "It could be possible."

Ivy looked doubtful. "It depends. It seemed like that would be more of a crime of passion than planned out. But, anything's possible."

"You can try to evaluate them tonight, Ivy. Speaking of which, has anyone thought of a decent plan to bring up the subject?" Phil asked, as we migrated back to the kitchen.

"Um…"

"Er…"

"Crap," I muttered. "I should have remembered!"

"Well, we still have time," Callie pointed out. "Although, it may be hard considering it is on the subject of death…"

"Yeah, and they might be asking about Frank and Dad," Joe said, a smile on his lips. "Maybe we could bribe them or something. They tell us about Adria, we talk about Frank."

"That's it!" I looked at my brother. "It's a perfect plan!"

"Really?" Callie asked. "I thought it was rather stupid."

"No, not Joe's plan. The _idea_ behind it!"

Now everyone was staring at me.

"Greg was murdered. We could talk about it, and maybe the subject will come up!"

"That's one morbid way to extract information," Phil said. "But it's the only plan we have."

Callie frowned. "I hate to use dead people like this."

"I don't like it either," I admitted. "But we need to figure this out."

"Fine." She looked towards the door. "Perfect timing, too. Here they come."

I looked, and saw the silhouettes of people in the window. "Well, then, I guess I'm still opening doors," I mumbled.

"Hey, at least the party's startin'!" Joe exclaimed.

"Phil, do you realize that if you ever get married to Frank, you're gonna have this idiot as your brother-in-law?" Callie asked.

"Hey!"

"Yeah, I realized."

I sighed loudly as I opened the door for the third time in around fifteen minutes. I was greeted with the sight of Nancy, Bess, George, and Ned all in the doorway. "Hi you guys!"

"Frank!" Nancy quickly stepped forward and hugged me. I had a mental image of Phil and Joe behind me, my brother pointing it out to my boyfriend.

"It's still cold here, too?" George asked, coming through the doorway. "I was hoping it would be warmer here."

"It's definitely not a good day for wearing a nice skirt," Bess added, pointing to the navy blue skirt that she had donned.

Nancy, letting go of me, turned to her friend. "Bess, I told you not to wear that!"

"But it was the only thing that matched my shirt!"

George rolled her eyes. "Fashion over warmth, right cousin?"

Ned, who had closed the door since he was the last one to come in, nodded his head. "Bess, always the fashionable one." He looked at me briefly, then turned away, probably because his girlfriend just got all excited seeing me.

George, on the other hand, had looked into the kitchen. "Wow. Nice, hot guy here hiding in the back."

"Thank-" my brother started, when he realized that she was looking at Phil.

Callie and Ivy looked like they were ready to burst into laughter. I admit, I kind of wanted to join in. Phil, on the other hand, looked very composed. "Why, thank you."

Ivy found a way to make the situation less awkward. Or, at least, less awkward for everyone _but _me. "Hot Phil plus cute Frank…"

"Ivy!"

Callie finally released her laughter, and Phil managed a chuckle. Joe, on the other hand, decided to make it even worse for me. "You're turning red, bro!"

"That's it!" I ran after Joe. He stopped laughing, and sprinted out of the room. Phil held me back as I tried to run past him.

"You'll get him later," Phil said with a sigh. Then, he leaned down till his mouth was near my ear. "Besides, you look cute when you blush."

I assume that my blush had grown darker, because Callie and Ivy laughed harder.

"I hate all of you guys."

"Sorry…" Ivy managed to say between laughs.

"We should probably tell them," Callie added, looking at the guests.

I had forgotten about them in the middle of the moment, and I truthfully didn't know what to say. Thankfully, Phil did.

"Frank and I have been together since October."

Callie jumped in. "And they didn't tell us until three weeks ago!"

"You're gay?" Nancy asked. She looked very surprised, like I was the last guy in the world she thought would be gay.

"Yeah," I admitted.

"He's as straight as a circle!" Joe added, walking back from his hiding spot in the living room. "Straight as a balloon. Straight as-"

I quietly walked over to the oven, trying my hardest to ignore my brother.

Callie got the hint. "Hey, Joe, why don't you go into the living room with them. It'll be more comfortable."

"And we have to prepare our food," Ivy said, pointing to the bags that she and Phil brought in.

"Okay, sure." He led the River Heights kids to the living room, leaving four of us in the room. Callie shut the door, blocking out the rest of their conversation.

"You okay?" Ivy asked.

"I… I just hate when Joe does that. He thinks he knows the whole situation, but he doesn't!" I leaned against the counter, staring at the floor. "He was the idiot teasing me in the first place, too."

"No one should make jokes like that," Callie said. "I mean… we joke and all…"

"But his jokes hurt. When George talked about Phil, I was a part of the joke. Joe just made me a target," I said.

Phil wrapped an arm around my waist. "We can still call this whole thing off. Ditch them to go to the mall or something."

"We can't. Adria's still dead without an explanation."

"A detective to the end, aren't you?" Ivy said. "Well, we'll solve this. With or without Joe."

Callie sighed. "He was looking at Bess, too. Thought he was still heartbroken over Iola."

"He was?" I asked.

"You're brother likes a lot of girls," Phil said with a laugh. "I thought he should of have a steady girlfriend by now."

"Yeah, the day pigs fly." We all laughed, before turning our attention to the food. "Hey, Cal?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any idea why Nancy would go to Adria's funeral?"

"She went?"

"Yeah, I saw her in one of the pictures."

Callie looked thoughtful for a second. "Courtesy, maybe. But I'm not sure how many people would go to their ex-ex boyfriend's ex-girlfriend's funeral willingly."

"Not a lot, I bet," Ivy said. "But who knows? I don't think people take statistics on things like that. Do they?"

"Maybe, but extremely doubtful," Phil said, taking out the vegetarian pasta he had brought.

"Point being, we need to find out why she was there," I said.

"We got quite a list, then," Ivy said. "But we aren't gonna get any of it solved if we don't go and talk to them."

"Right." I took in a deep breath. "So, who's asking?"

"Ivy!" Callie exclaimed. "An actress should be able to improvise, right?"

"Um, maybe?" Ivy shrugged. "I can try, but you guys have to help me."

"We'll try," Phil promised. "But since you're the actor…"

"Next year, you all better sign up for drama class!" She pulled out her salad. "Shall we?"

"Yeah." I took a deep breath, and allowed myself to wait as the girls entered the living room. Phil stayed behind with me.

"Are you sure…?"

"I'm positive, Phil. I…" I closed my eyes. "I just wish that Joe was a little more sensitive to these things."

"That's what makes him unique, I guess." Phil sighed softly. "As long as you're positive…"

"You're hoping that persistent asking will change my mind?"

"Maybe." He smiled, before capturing my lips in a kiss.

I would love to say that it made me feel better. And it did. It's just…

I didn't want the pain to come before the joy. It gives joy the meaning, but it's still a bitter victory.

* * *

Nice job, Joe...


	6. Chapter 6

I shouldn't be doing this... Got so much other stuff to do...  
Do not own Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
Enjoy! *goes back to typing other things*

* * *

~Joe

I saw my brother come into the room from the corner of my eye. He seemed sad, which just made me feel crappy inside. _I should apologize later._

But as for now, I had a job to do.

"So, um… Frank. Why can't you stay near your dad? Your mom was talking about it," Nancy said. She was sitting next to Ned on the couch, with Bess and George on the ends. I had taken one of the armchairs, and Ivy stole the footrest and moved it to the other side.

Callie had taken the other footrest, and placed it next to Ivy's.

Phil and Frank ended up sharing the other armchair. "Um…" My brother looked away, probably feeling uncomfortable with the subject. But he managed to gather his bravery. "This girl at school kinda hypnotized me into imagining my father stabbing me."

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?"

_What do you think?_ I thought silently. "You forgot to add the part when Stacy murdered a kid, and tried to murder four others!"

"That too," Frank admitted. I caught his eye, and he gave me a small nod. Did that mean I was forgiven or something?

"Speaking of which, Greg's funeral is coming soon. The police finally gave back the body, since Stacy pleaded guilty," Ivy added. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought she was genuinely sad over all of this.

"Oh," George managed to say.

_Wait for it, wait for it…_

"A girl from our school committed suicide," Bess said in a rush.

"Really?" I pretended to act dumb. According to Frank, I was very good at that. "Are you sure it isn't a murder?"

"Joe!" Callie exclaimed.

"It was like one of the cases Dad worked on, right Frank?" That was all just really big bullshit. I had no idea if Dad ever got a case like that in his life. Hopefully, my brother would catch on."

"That wasn't Dad."

_Shit._

"It was from one of those mystery books you stole out of my room." Frank rolled his eyes. "Probably the only book you ever read, either."

"Hey!" I pretended to glower at my brother, who only smiled in return. I guess we were a bit even now.

"Is it possible?" George asked Nancy. "I mean, we didn't know Adria so well… But she didn't seem like someone who would commit suicide."

"That's tricky," Nancy admitted. "There was no note, but at the same time, she could have decided she didn't have anyone to say goodbye to. And some people who commit suicide can seem very happy, but deep down are depressed."

"But is it possible?"

"No!" This time, it was Bess. "The police would have found something by now if it was one."

Ned nodded his head in agreement. "When… when I was with her, she did seem depressed when we were alone."

_And you dumped her._ I stuck to the role of dumb Hardy. "You dated… what's her name? Adria, right?"

"Last year." He began to blush from embarrassment. "Just for a month, though."

Nancy seemed angry at the thought of the past relationship. _Hm… Maybe adding Nancy to the suspect list wouldn't be such a bad idea after all._

It didn't seem like we could get any other direct information out from them, so Ivy tried to change the subject for a bit. "So, what clubs do you guys have in River Heights?"

The conversation went from there, and any more mentions of death had diminished for the time being. Ivy kept them going on their school life, as if she was prodding for some information.

Frank got up, and walked to the kitchen. "I need to check on the pizza."

"I'll come," I volunteered, following my brother's lead. I closed the door behind us, and waited for Frank to start talking.

He did so almost immediately. "Nancy seemed to know a lot of things about suicide."

"Her dad's a lawyer, though. Suicide cases are bound to come up," I said. "Either that, or she researched it after Adria was buried six feet under."

"It's also possible that she researched _before,_ so she would have a cover story."

"That too." I watched Frank walk over to the over, trying to put more of my thoughts together. "Something's telling me that George is innocent. She seemed naturally worried."

"Unless she acts. Bet that's what Ivy's trying to find out right now." He looked to the doorway. "At this point, anyone is still a suspect."

"Including the forty other people we haven't met."

"Yeah."

We were silent for a few seconds, before I started a sentence. "I'm sorry-"

"Forget it, Joe."

"But-"

"Whatever. I guess I shouldn't have gotten all upset about it. It's life." He sighed. "Besides, at least you accept me for who I am."

"A brother who has a bunch of brains, blushing issues, and almost no love life till… what, December?"

"October," Frank corrected as he pulled the pizza out of the oven. "That reminded me of something else. Remember Ned's reaction when we mentioned Adria's death?"

"He acted as if it wasn't a giant surprise."

"Yet, in the pages of the diary we got, she seemed fine. If anything, she would have written it in her diary."

"Probably."

"And Bess seems convinced that Adria committed suicide."

"With the information the police gave, I can't blame her."

Frank gave me a look. "What?"

"You like Bess, don't you?"

"No I don't!" I protested.

"I saw that look in your eyes when you looked at her when she was talking. You do, don't you?"

"Nnnnooo."

"Iola!"

"What?!"

"See, you didn't react like you used to when someone says her name!" Frank pointed out. "You _are_ in love with Bess!"

"Shut up!" Lame, I know, but it's hard to compete with Frank in debates.

"Don't worry, little bro. You'll probably charm her." He laughed at that.

"Shouldn't you be worried about your own love life?" I retorted.

"You mean how Ned may still possibly beat me up and Nancy may try to get me to turn straight?"

"Yeah, that."

"I would prefer Phil over all of that."

"Ned isn't good enough?"

"Would you ever date Callie?"

"Ow! Mental scars, bro!" I punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Might want to watch over George. She could steal Phil right under your nose."

Frank rolled his eyes. "With any luck, Bess might take you back to River Heights with her."

_That would be nice. At least I wouldn't be single anymore._


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
Enjoy!

* * *

~Joe

The rest of the night went smoothly, without any mention of dead kids. The really weird thing happened when our parents came home, and everyone else left.

It was a quick instance, but something scared me. Frank looked at Dad for a second before running up to his room. If I didn't see Frank's eyes, I would probably have thought that he was having another scene playing out in his head with Dad stabbing him.

But my brother's eyes had pure hatred in them when he saw Dad.

I'm not sure if Dad noticed it or not, and I didn't feel like asking. Instead, I followed Frank into his room. "What was that?"

"Depends on what you're talking about."

I rolled my eyes. "You know what I'm talking about. That look you gave to Dad about ten seconds ago."

"I saw Dad a minute ago."

"You're just being annoying, aren't you?"

He shrugged. "Sorry. Callie came up with the idea of trying to overcome my fear with anger."

"How does that work?"

"If I get so angry at Dad, I really have no reason to become scared."

"So instead, you hate him."

"Not hate, really. Just a really pissed off feeling inside of me."

"And you said you wouldn't get angry at Dad," I joked. Truthfully, it scared me. Frank never gets angry the way he did. And just that one moment… I mean, wow…

"I know I did. But it's been taking too long any other way. We have school in three days. I can't go back there unless I can look at people like Chet and Biff."

"The psychologist won't approve, you know."

Frank sighed. "Yeah, I figured. But I don't have better idea on what to do. When I think of one, I'll let you know."

"Okay." But for some reason, I knew my brother wasn't going to try and come up with another was to deal with the situation.

-----------

The rest of the vacation passed by really quickly. Too fast for my taste. I hate waking up so early to get ready for school. Why can't we sleep in?

Frank and I arrived to school on time, to find that the River Heights kids, in general, couldn't figure out the layout of the school. I can't really blame them. Frank had to explain the whole thing to me when I was a freshman, and I still get lost.

We didn't see Nancy or her friends, so we headed off to class.

Ivy and I had the same English class, so I was able to chat with her before it began.

"What's up?" I asked, taking the seat next to her.

"About twenty people asked me where the rooms were, and I'm pretty sure they all had maps." She sighed. "Is our school really that confusing?"

"Um, yes?"

"You're joking, right?"

"Well, my map using skills aren't that good, so no." I looked around the room. "Do we have any of the kids in our class?"

"I haven't seen anyone yet. Callie said we should give them at least twenty minutes to find the class, though."

"You don't give them enough credit." I motioned towards the doorway. "He seems pretty new."

The kid looked around, before deciding to take the seat in front of mine. He was pretty tall in standard terms, and might have even been an inch taller than me. He had a mess of brown hair, and he looked very, very confused.

"Hi," I said. "I'm Joe Hardy." I put out my hand, and the kid shook it.

"I'm Matt Crane."

"I'm Ivy Richards," Ivy said, adjusting her headband. "Like our school so far?"

"Well, it's hard to find this room, and it's only first period," he said with a laugh.

"Told you," I mumbled.

"Shut up, Joe." She leaned over, and smacked my shoulder. "So, what's your schedule?"

He handed the piece of paper to her. "I'm not sure how I'm gonna make it through the day," he admitted.

"Don't worry. We'll help," I said.

"We have the same math and study hall," Ivy observed, handing the paper to me. "Don't stress too much."

I scanned the paper. "You're in my chem class, my friend. You'll do fine, as long as you don't repeat the garbage can incident."

"Garbage can incident?"

"Oh, so it _was_ your class," Ivy said. She turned to Matt. "They were doing a lab with the Bunsen burners in December. And they managed to set the trash on fire."

"Hey, it might have been our class, but it wasn't _me_. Besides, the trash was empty and the fire was small."

"Yet your butts were in deep trouble."

"How'd you even hear about it, anyways?"

"Someone texted me about it. Think it was Frank."

"First the cookie story, now this?" I gave a dramatic sigh.

"He's Joe's older brother," Ivy explained.

"Only by eleven months!"

"That must be cool," Matt commented. "I have two younger sisters, and they are a pain."

"Girls in general are a pain," I said.

"That's what Frank said when he realized he way gay," Ivy commented. "Are you gay too?"

"Yup," I said sarcastically. "Phil's cheating one Frank with me, in fact."

"Your brother's gay?" Matt asked. He seemed a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Sorry, I just… never really met a gay person before. I know it sounds weird and all, but we don't have a gay community or anything in River Heights."

"Really?" I could see that Ivy seemed a bit surprised. "Not even a GSA?"

"A what?"

Ivy was about to explain, but Mrs. Dyan had already cleared her throat, signaling the start of her lesson.

The class dragged on, but once the bell rang, everyone sprang to life. Including Matt. He ran off before we could stop him.

"So, River Heights doesn't have a GSA," I finally said. "At least, that's what Matt made it sound like. It could be a hidden thing, though. Like how GSACA was unknown here."

"_Was_ being the key word." Ivy pointed to a poster on the wall. "Now that Rachel's 'too busy' and gave me control, we got more advertisements. And we were an official club since September."

"That's how Frank found out, right? Looking through all those papers school sent home in the summer."

"Yeah. I'll ask around before the presentation, though."

"Presentation?"

"We're supposed to showcase our clubs to the River Heights kids after school today," Ivy explained. "Tanner made a video to show how one of the art sessions go."

"I never saw you guys working," I realized.

"You might want to come, then. I already got Frank and Phil to go."

"That's because you abuse your power as their leader."

"I'm not their leader!"

"Sure…" I rolled my eyes, before going down a different hallway for gym.

-------------

"Why am I waiting here again?" I asked Callie as we stood in front of the doors to the auditorium. The rest of the school day had gone by pretty quickly, which meant that this presentation thing came sooner than I thought.

Truth be told, they were actually pretty interesting. Most of the clubs had some people go up and talk about what they did. I never realized we had so many things going on here. The cool part was seeing a painting that one of the GSACA members made of Frank. It was called "Broken Angel" and it really looked like Frank had bleed and had broken wings and everything.

"Because we want to see all the River Heights kids." She briefly looked at all of the kids coming out of the auditorium. In a whisper, she said "One of them could be a murderer."

A thought struck me. "Do any of these kids like chess? You know, show any interest when the chess club was talking?"

Callie saw where I was going. "Maybe. You can ask Terrance about it."

"Yeah, as soon as the crowd leaves. Who knew the supposed lazy dude was captain of the chess team?"

"He doesn't want to deal with people asking, I guess." Callie looked into the almost empty auditorium. "So, do you think you can remember all of those faces?"

"I'll try. So, seen Nancy, George, Bess, or Ned today?"

"I share study hall with the three girls. You should have seen the way Nancy was acting! If I didn't know any better, I would have thought she was single."

"Going after Frank? Even though she's dating Ned?"

"She and Ned haven't been doing so well. He's looking at other girls, so she's looking at other guys."

"The gay ones."

"The flaw, I guess." By now, most of the kids had left, with a few staying inside asking about some of the clubs or otherwise cleaning up. "Hey, what's that?"

"Huh?" Callie was pointing at a piece of folded up paper that laid on the floor, undisturbed. "Guess we better find the owner." I reached over to pick it up. "Maybe there's a name or something."

"Or it could be a map. More of the kids threw their maps away after second period."

I opened the paper, hoping for some answers. "Oh boy."

"What is it?" Callie looked over my shoulder.

"If I know any chess, this is a recording of a game. And it's 'Adria versus The Dealer.'"

* * *

The Bunsen burner thing actually happened in my class. We're not sure what happened, so our teacher thinks someone accidently threw away a paper towel without realizing it was burning a bit.


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own the Hardy Boys.  
Enjoy!

* * *

~Frank

"Well, that was fun," Phil commented, coming back from moving the painting back to the art room. Ivy was talking to some River Heights kids, all of them still surprised to realize that they didn't have a GSA at their school.

"Which part?" I asked sarcastically. Truthfully, I didn't want to come and see that picture displayed. It was really nice and all, but the problem was _I_ was the subject.

"All of it," he said, a smile plastered on his face. "You saw Nancy's face, don't deny it!"

"Okay, maybe I did." I admitted. "I couldn't help it!"

"Of course you couldn't." He put his arm around my shoulders. "It was too grand of a moment to miss."

"It was." I looked over to the doorway, and was a bit surprised to see Joe and Callie running towards us, Joe clutching to a piece of paper.

"Frank, you got to see this!" My brother pushed the paper into my hand before almost being knocked to the ground by Callie. The gentle slope of the auditorium must have added a bit to her speed.

"Huh?" I glanced at the paper, and quickly understood the importance of the clue. "Who does this belong to?"

"No idea. Some kid probably dropped it."

"Meaning that we definitely know there's a killer here," Callie added, looking over her shoulder. So far, no one had really paid attention to us, mainly due to all of the cleaning and answers they were giving.

"I can probably recreate the game," Phil offered. "It might help in some way."

"Okay." I thought for a second, before adding, "We need to find out if Adria ever played chess. And knowing all of the kids who might be on their chess team wouldn't hurt, either."

"Here's our chance, then." Joe motioned his head to the left. "Terrance is coming our way."

"Hey dudes!" Terrance was wearing a big grin, a chess board tucked under his arm. "You okay, Frank?"

I nodded. "Still recovering. Stacy didn't get to you with any mind tricks, right?"

"I got lucky." He seemed to have another question, but suddenly decided against it. "Meet any potential new members?"

I looked over at Ivy, who was still talking to the River Heights kids. "Possibly. How about you?"

"A few, amazingly. I think some guy yelled out 'Nerd!' at me when they were leaving."

"But nerds get to take over the world," Phil deadpanned.

"Very true," Callie added.

Joe shook his head. "Great. Pleasant thought."

"It's already happening," Terrance said with a laugh. "We're everywhere."

"When's your next meeting?" Phil asked suddenly. "I've played a lot when I was younger, so I might as well start up again."

"Just in time, my friend. Tomorrow after school we're having a tournament in the cafeteria. Bayport versus River Heights."

"Awesome. I'll be there."

"Alright. See you then." With that, Terrance bid us all goodbye and left the auditorium.

"Trying to join the nerd side, eh?" Joe asked Phil.

"I'm already on it, so there's no point in denying." He shrugged, before taking the paper out of my hands. "I'll look into Adria and anyone else on the team tomorrow."

"I'll check their website again, then," Callie offered. "Maybe I can find some pictures that could tell us anything."

"And we're stuck with homework," Joe added. "Joy…"

-----------

The next day had passed by really quickly, with too much work that forced Phil and me into separate places throughout the day. I wasn't even able to get a minute's worth of conversation to him.

What was worse is that we had to get assigned seats in math because some people in my class talked too much. I was placed next to Chet. He tried to talk me during the whole period, but I couldn't answer him. I was still way too angry, and when I saw him later, I had a mini breakdown with another one of the stabbing scenes playing out in my head.

Joe could tell I was a bit irritated when we drove home.

"So, have we simmered down on our anger towards the world yet? Or are you still planning on how you can lock Dad in the basement without Mom or Aunt Trudy finding out?"

"I'm not trying to get rid of Dad. And my anger has been going away. It's just… he doesn't seem to try and hope that I'll get better."

"You don't really think that… do you?"

"I dunno. It's too confusing sometimes. It would be so nice to actually try to talk this out."

"He'll break down soon, Frank. Mom doesn't want to talk to him much now, Aunt Trudy doesn't like talking to anyone, and Playback's a freakin' bird. And I'm not the one who got all of the intelligent genes in the family. If anything, he's gonna talk to you because he needs to keep his sanity."

"Great," I said sarcastically.

"There's not much for him to do, anyways. He's _retired._ Or, at least retired enough not to make him seem like a stranger every time he came home."

"I remember that." A grin was coming to my face, as well as Joe's. "You're the one who started that one, though."

"Hey, I was _six_. Besides, Dad's case made him travel anywhere but home for half a year. Was it really my fault that I couldn't recognize him and called him a stranger?"

"If I remember correctly, you called him a thief, not stranger."

"Either way, it stopped Dad from getting any of those long ass cases. Mom used that incident as an excuse to keep him home most of the time." Joe parked the car in the driveway. "I think it shocked him, too."

"Yeah."

My cell phone started ringing, so I tried to grab it out of my coat pocket. Problem being, Joe managed to get it before me.

"Cooler Hardy here," he said into the phone. I rolled my eyes as he continued, probably not even letting the other person talk. "Are you free tomorrow- Phil? Crap. Here." Joe pushed the phone in my direction, and got out of the car.

"Phil?"

_"Yup. Why did Joe have the phone?"_

"He got to it before me," I explained. "What's up?"

_"Well, Adria played chess sometimes. Not the best player, but probably not the worst either. I found out about some of the people on the club, and I think Callie found a photo of them, so I'll name them to you tomorrow. But the chess game recording you found yesterday makes absolutely no sense."_

"What do you mean?"

_"Some of Adria's moves don't make sense. She could have gotten the queen at one point, but instead exposed her king. It's like she was asking to lose."_

"Another Adria, then?"

_"I don't think so. I got a hold on one of the school's list of people on the trip. Apparently, Adria was supposed to go, but that's the only Adria mentioned."_

"Then something must be going on," I concluded. "Anything else?"

_"How about you agreeing to a date with me tomorrow?"_

I couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe if you're lucky. Where to?"

_"Glaze Plaza? We can choose one of the restaurants tomorrow."_

"Sure." My mood suddenly picked up, before I spotted Nancy talking to Joe. "Gotta go. Eleven?"

_"Sure. Love you."_

"Love you too." I hung up, and got out of the car to see what the two were doing outside of the house.

"I can't believe you!" Nancy yelled at Joe.

"I just made a comment! It wasn't like I accused anyone!"

"What's going on?" I asked, an idea of why Nancy seemed to be yelling at my brother in my head.

"Now George thinks someone might have killed Adria!" Nancy threw up her hands in frustration. "She keeps asking if it's possible, and it's not!"

"Okay, I made a little comment referring to a book, and you blame _me?!"_

"Yes!"

Joe shook his head, mumbling "And I'm the one usually unreasonable…"

"Excuse me?"

"Nancy, it is possible," I said quietly. "I mean, half the stuff Joe says is nonsense-"

"I resent that."

I continued anyways. "-but there are a lot of possibilities."

"Like what?" Nancy retorted, crossing her arms.

"Someone could have pushed her over the edge so badly that she did kill herself. Or someone might have wanted to get rid of her-"

"What are you saying, Franklin Hardy?"

"I'm just stating the possibilities."

"You mean the truth." Joe walked over, and walked over to the stairs leading to the door. He picked up something from the ground, which was over a piece of paper. He held it up for us to see.

"That's a king from a chess board…" Nancy said quietly.

"And a note. 'Interfere with the game, and die.'"

* * *

Nerds will take over the world. We already have a good portion of it, anyways :)


	9. Chapter 9

Finally had a chance to write this...  
I do not own the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
Enjoy!

* * *

~Frank

"And what did Nancy do after that?" Phil asked, his fingers laced through mine.

"Stopped yelling at Joe and just gawked. Reality must have hit for a second. But then she went into denial and said we were pulling some stupid prank." I looked around at the parking lot. "There aren't a lot of people here today."

"There's some giant mall opening up today, remember? Takes an hour to get there, but it's supposed to be worth it. At least, that's what my mom said," Phil explained. "My dad was forced to go along to make sure she doesn't go crazy or something."

"Oh yeah. Aunt Trudy might go to that…" I turned back to my boyfriend. "What do you think about the threat? Joe thinks it might be Nancy, Ned, George, or Bess."

"I agree with him. They were the only ones to hear us talking about it. Unless George asked around and all."

"True. But she doesn't seem like the type to ask anyone and everyone."

"And Diana didn't seem to have any anger management issues."

"Yeah… so, how'd the chess tournament go?" I asked.

"Well, the overall team did well. I was probably the underdog, though."

"You can't be good at everything, Phil."

"But I can try."

"Sure you can."

"You must have missed the conversation that Callie, Ivy, and Joe had behind our backs."

"Which one?" From what I knew, those three had a million little theories that they decided not to tell us.

"That since I managed to get you, I must have either have some magical powers or just plain perfect."

"That perfect idea probably came from Joe," I concluded. "He's been making that joke since the day I started blushing around girls." I looked through one of the windows of a restaurant. "Where do you want to eat?"

"I was thinking something kinda casual. Like a family restaurant."

"Izzy's place is open," I said, pointing down the path to the sign standing near the doorway.

"Perfect." We went there, where the owner, Isabella (everyone calls her Izzy, though), brought us to a private table. We placed our orders, then started talking about some random stuff until the food came. We were almost done when

"Hey, who's that?" I asked, motioning to the girl who just walked into the place, literally dragging her companion along with her.

"River Height's kid named Deirdre something. Father is another lawyer, making her rivals with Nancy, has some big crush on Ned, and is 'popular,'" Phil explained. "A kid named Jason from the chess team told me about her. In his exact words, she's a bitch."

"No kidding." It seemed that she had completely ignored her date, and was walking straight towards us.

"I blame you, personally," Phil whispered as she got closer.

"What? Why?"

"How many girls still chase you even though you're gay?"

I was about to retort, when Deirdre bumped into our table. "Oh, hi. I didn't realize you guys were sitting here."

_How can you not?_ "It's okay," I said quickly, hoping that she might leave.

No such luck. "I'm with the River Heights group. Deirdre Shannon." She held out her hand.

"Frank Hardy."

"Phil Cohen."

"So, are you waiting for a date or-"

Phil's cell phone suddenly went off. He looked at the number, before shooting me an apologetic look. I gave a slight nod to tell him it was okay, so he opened it up and began talking to the caller.

"Actually, our dates are here," I said, trying my best to hide my blush. Even though I had admitted to the world that I was dating Phil, I still wasn't all that comfortable with saying it so easily. Especially to girls I've just met and are trying to hit on me, not to mention that my boyfriend was right there.

"Really? You know," she said, "if you ever need to spice up you life or something…"

_Crap._ "Sorry, it's just-"

"Deirdre, leave them alone." Nancy and Ned were walking together, probably trying to get a table. Nancy's eyes were cold as she focused them on the other girl. I could already guess that she disliked Deirdre so much, that she was willing to even defend me.

"Oh, look. Losers."

"Hi Nancy, Ned," I said.

"Wait, you know them?!" the girl shrieked, which made me thankful that there weren't that many people here.

"Our fathers worked together," Nancy explained, her eyes not leaving Deirdre.

"Listen, Frank. You don't want to be associated with Nancy Drew. If you ever want a nice date-"

"He doesn't need you."

"Stay out of this, Drew."

"You're the one who started-"

I could imagine Joe yelling "Catfight!" right about now. Instead, I wanted this whole thing to end.

"Sorry, Deirdre. You're not my type."

"Oh." Her anger focused on me now. "Why is that? Do you like scum like her-"

"Hey!"

"That's not it-"

"Then what is?!"

With good timing, Phil had shut his cell phone, looking at us curiously. Whatever call he just got was probably important enough to try and ignore us. So, I did what my instinct told me to do. I leaned over the table, grabbed Phil's collar, and smashed our lips together.

If Joe ever finds out, I swear I will never here the end of this.

Out of all of us, Ned was the one to start laughing first. Nancy stifled a giggle, and Deirdre was just staring.

"I prefer guys," I said simply, sitting back down. Phil was grinning at me, and I couldn't help but grin back. But, there was something about his smile that made me positive that the call wasn't any good news.

"That's it!" With that, Deirdre stormed out of the place.

Ned was still laughing. "That was awesome!"

"Brilliant," Nancy added.

"Yeah…" I faked a smile. "Ready to leave, Phil?"

"Sure." We got up, said goodbye to Nancy and Ned, paid for the bill, and left.

"Okay, what's up?" I asked once we exited the restaurant.

"Callie just called. A kid named Adam Wilson was reported missing an hour ago. When police searched through his room, they found the window broken, his roommate unconscious, and a chess piece on his bed with a knife next to it."

--------------

"I… He just vanished!" Bess exclaimed, staring at where the police tape had blocked off the room Adam was staying in during his stay at Bayport. George was standing next to her, as well as Nancy and Ned. Bess had called them, so they ended their date early.

I examined the picture of the smiling kid that Callie gave me before getting Phil to help her search the woods.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Joe asked gently.

"Yesterday after school. He asked me to help him with his math homework," George explained. "After that, he went into his room with his roommate, Matt Crane."

"Poor Matt," Nancy said softly.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"The police. They're questioning him and trying to get an idea of where the search party should go."

"We should try to talk to him," Joe told me. "He's in some of my classes, so he should probably open up-"

"What about me?" Nancy demanded.

"Depends if you think this has anything to do with Adria's death."

She was silent for a moment, while George said, "So Adria was really murdered, wasn't she?"

"We got a threat yesterday," I explained. "It said 'Interfere with the game and die.'"

"And I overheard the police mentioning a chess piece found in the room," Joe added.

"Does that mean…"

"There's a murderer in the group of exchange students."

Bess slumped against the wall, and Joe tried to help her up. Ned had paled significantly, and Nancy looked down.

"It's not possible. I know almost everyone on the trip," she mumbled. "Even Deirdre wouldn't do something like this. There's no way!"

"Nancy-"

"I don't care what you have to say, Hardy! I'm telling you, no one here is a murderer!" she hissed at me.

"It might be hard to accept in, Nancy. But at the moment, there are too many coincidences to ignore the possibility."

"Frank, Joe!" We turned around, watching Ivy run up to us.

"I already don't like the sounds of this," Joe whispered to me.

"They need more people for the search party. You know the field next to the woods and bay?"

"The one that looks like a dump?" Joe asked.

"Yeah. They need people to cover that area. Callie and Phil were sent into the woods, so I thought you guys want to help me cover that area," Ivy said.

"Sure." I didn't bother to look at Nancy or her friends.

"I'm in." Joe helped Bess to her feet before walking to the staircase.

"Can I go?" George asked, her eyes almost pleading.

I was tempted to say no. But, then again, she was the only one of them who believed it was possible that a murder had taken place. "Sure."

We left the other three behind, contemplating their moves.

-----------

"There are a lot of ditches here," George commented, trying to walk around the mess.

"It used to be a construction sight, but it was closed down when the company went bankrupt. After that, people just mess around here. They sometimes even leave their cars here," Joe explained

"No kidding."

"See anything?" I asked, trying to peak into a rusting car's window.

"Trash, trash, and more trash."

"The environment club is trying to get some kind of clean up thing here. Problem is the cars," Ivy said.

"Yeah." Joe peaked through another car. "Maybe the mayor might consider putting an actual parking lot here."

"George!" Nancy's voice filled the area. "Come on! I doubt someone would bring Adam here!"

"Unless they wanted to hide a body," Joe said. He wasn't bothering to hide his annoyance.

"He's not-"

"Found him!" Ivy exclaimed. "At least…"

"Damn it." I could already tell that this wasn't good news at all. I ran over to where she was standing, which was one of the small hills that lead to a ditch. Joe, George, and Nancy also ran over.

In the ditch, under another old, rusty, car, Adam's blood body laid under the tire. In his extended hand, he held a black chess piece in his grasp, covered in his blood.

* * *

Sorry, Adam...


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
Enjoy!

* * *

~Joe

Frank had gone to make a report to ATAC, while Ivy and I went with the police to examine the body. George and Nancy came with us. George was shaking, while Nancy was silent.

We waited in one of the rooms that were empty. It seemed like hours had passed by before we actually started talking to each other.

"I don't get it," Ivy said at last to me. "Why would someone kill again if they already gotten away with one murder?"

I shrugged. "Maybe they want to prove something to the world."

"Like what?"

"That they're a complete psycho? Murders aren't usually logical." I sighed, and leaned back in my chair. "Maybe Adam discovered something. Maybe he pissed off a kid. Or maybe he was chosen by chance."

"Life's cruel."

"Hard to argue with you on that point."

"What can we do?" George asked in a soft voice. It was the first time she spoke since we found the body.

"Hope that we can find them," I answered. I turned to Nancy, who had her face hidden in her hands. "Nance…?"

She let out a sob, and I realized she was shaking. "Why?"

"Nancy…"

"I… I didn't think there was a murderer! And now Adam's dead!" She began to cry harder. "Why didn't I listen to you guys? Why…"

"Because you had hope," Callie's voice answered. I turned towards the doorway, and saw her leaning against the doorframe.

"You could become a ninja," I said.

She ignored me. "You saw good in everyone, Nancy. It's not the worst thing in the world."

"But there was a murderer-"

"But would it have helped? That murderer seems to have eluded everyone so far, so why should we be the ones to catch them?" Callie walked up to Nancy, and sat in the chair next to her. "Right now, we need to focus on who did this, and we'll mourn later. It might sound harsh, but we can't let the murderer get away with this, okay?"

"It is hard to think that someone you know is a killer," Ivy added.

"It happened to me plenty of times. One minute, I thinking I'm with a really cool guy. The next, he snaps and is chasing me around with a gun." Sadly, this has happened to me and Frank too many times to count.

My cell phone went off before Nancy could respond. I pulled it out of my pocket and flipped it open. "Hello?"

_"It's Phil. Stacy just contacted Frank, and now he lost some of his memory."_

-----------

"I was hoping we were done with her," I mumbled as I drove to my house.

"Did Phil say how bad it was?" Callie asked. Ivy had decided to stay with Nancy and George while Callie and I checked on Frank.

"It's kinda mild. On one hand, he recognized Phil. On the other, he thinks it's September and that he and Phil are only buds."

"Because he found out he was gay in October," she concluded.

"Yeah." I pulled into the driveway. "This is gonna be great."

We quickly got into Frank's room, where he was laying in bed asleep. Phil sat in the chair next to the desk.

"She wasn't supposed to have a phone, but she did. And now…" He looked at Frank. "It was kinda awkward."

"Did you contact anyone else?" I asked.

"His psychologist. She said we have to reintroduce him and hope."

"Reintroduce to the fact that he's gay. That's sure to go over well," Callie said, the sarcasm evident.

"Well, maybe he'll like you again." Phil said this with a smile, but it wasn't hard to hear the sadness in his voice.

Callie slapped his arm lightly. "He loves you. I'm not stupid."

"And you're not a Deidre," Phil added. "She was hitting on him earlier today."

"Wow. Anyways…" I thought for a moment. "Is it possible that the murderer in our case contacted Stacy? You know, to try and throw us off balance?"

"I already asked. Someone did send a message, but it's most likely in code."

"It has to be either Nancy, Bess, or Ned," Callie said. "They're the only ones who truly know how Frank was hurt by being hypnotized, and they probably did some internet research to find out about Stacy."

"No George?" I asked.

"Ivy's pretty sure George isn't acting, and I have to agree. We'll keep an eye on her, though."

"So now what?" Phil asked.

"Find out anything the police found, and try to go from there. Maybe we can even get into Nancy's or Bess's rooms. Ned's a whole other issue." I glanced at my brother. "If we jog up his memory, we might find out something else."

"Hopefully."

"Yeah." I tried to remember what Frank was like in September. A lot has changed since then, even after taking out the preferences in partners. His study habits had shifted a bit, to accommodate the ATAC missions. The missions themselves were sometimes intense, so he would forget some of the new techniques we used.

And his anger at Dad was really great before this happened.

The thought of Dad got me angry too. But it also posed another issue. What happens if Frank never recovers his memory? What if he stays straight as a pin? He'll find some nice girl, get married, have kids…

And Dad will get away with his behavior when Frank revealed who he truly was.

I had to talk to Mom. Maybe Aunt Trudy too. But not Dad. Not yet, anyways.

_Damn it, Stacy. Why do you keep attacking Frank?_

Once again, my cell phone rang. This time, I put it on speaker when I recognized the caller. "What's up, Ivy?"

_"The chess piece had the same message. No fingerprints. But I found another paper in Adam's room that looked like Adria's recorded game. It's against 'The Roller' this time."_

"Great. More than one," Callie said.

_"And our friend Adam was on the Chess team. Matt won't talk about it, but a kid named Jason mentioned how Adam was really competitive and was bit of a sore loser."_

"Pissed off everyone, right?" I asked.

_"Yeah. Besides that, I can't find any connection between him and Adria. Something's going on in the chess team that we need to find out."_

"Oh boy…" Phil whispered.

"What?"

"I just remembered." He pulled out a folded picture from his pocket. Flattening out on the table before handing it to me, he said, "This is their chess team. And look who's on it."

I glanced at the picture before realizing what worried Phil. At the edge of the group sat Ned and Nancy, grinning for the camera.

* * *

Adam probably tossed the chess board and pieces into the air one too many times...


	11. Chapter 11

I don't own the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
Enjoy!

* * *

~Joe

We started questioning Frank on his memory the second he woke up. Well, I did at least. Phil just seemed generally upset, and had excused himself to talk with George and try to get a yearbook from her. Ivy was still waiting for the police to supply her with some more information. Callie…

Well, let's just say I was getting even more bruises.

"Jeez, I just recovered from the time you grabbed my arm!" I complained, rubbing over the spot where she punched me. "That freakin' stings!"

"You shouldn't start asking him things when he just woke up! How would you like it if I start interrogating you when you first wake up?!"

"Then I would want to know why the hell you were in my room in the first place!"

"Um…" Frank wanted to intervene in some way, but was probably still confused. So instead of issuing a command for me to stop (he never yelled at Callie, for some reason), he asked, "Why is it so cold?"

"Because it's going to be March tomorrow."

"But… it's September."

"It's- oh, wait." I sat down at the edge of the bed. "You lost your memory Frank. It's the last day of February."

"How?"

"The days naturally go on and on, and then it becomes a new month!"

"No, not that!" He took his pillow, and smacked me in the head.

"The hell! Does everyone want to injure me? Are you guys planning to put me in a hospital?"

"How'd I lose my memory?"

"There... you had a case for ATAC during Valentine's Day," Callie began to explain. I saw a small spark of worry in Frank's eye.

"What? What's ATAC?"

"Wait a sec. Didn't you guys join when it was created?" Callie turned her attention to me.

"Protocol. You didn't know about it back then." I looked at Frank. "Callie's an agent, bro. She and Ivy-"

"Who's Ivy?"

"Ivy Richards. Please tell me you met her in September." If he didn't remember Ivy, then we might have more problems then I realized…

"Ivy Richards…? Oh yeah. I met her in the library."

"Figures."

"Anyways, there was a girl named Stacy behind some threats and a murder. She also hypnotized you. She made you imagine that your father and some others were stabbing you, and made you act like you were six years old at one point." Callie sighed, closing her eyes. "She called you earlier today, and now you don't remember anything past September."

"That rhymed."

"And Joe is an idiot."

"Hey…"

"So that hasn't changed," Frank said. "What about Dad?"

"You kinda got into a major disagreement with him." I tried to plan out my next sentences, before deciding improvisation was probably better. "You discovered that you were gay in October, and didn't tell us until the beginning of February."

Frank went silent after that. He just stared at the blanket covering his legs, almost like a statue. Being his younger brother and all, it wasn't hard for me to see that he was trying to take in those few words.

"I'm… I'm gay?"

"I guess, technically, you _were_ gay. Right now, you're whatever you were in September," Callie said softly.

"Which was probably very confused," I added.

"So… what happened then? When I first found out?"

"You have to ask Ivy. She was the one you talked to."

I felt jealous. Frank had confided in a girl he just met, rather than me, someone he had known all of his life. Why? Did he think I would blow it off and make fun of him? Did he think I wasn't worth asking for help, or even an opinion?

That was one reason I had gotten so angry with him in the first place. He didn't tell _me_, and I'm his brother! We told each other everything for years! Hell, we've probably know more about each other than Mom and Dad ever will about their sons!

Frank had the same question in mind. "Why didn't I tell you?"

"Because you were scared." Ivy's voice seemed to have frozen time in the room as she walked in. I recovered quickly, though.

"How the hell did you get in?"

"You left the door open."

"I locked the door."

"The back door, I mean."

"But we have a fence- Did you seriously jumped our fence just to get into the house?"

"Yes I did. Anyways…" She looked at Frank. "You remember me, right?"

"Kind of. We met a few times."

"Better than none, I guess." She sighed.

"Why didn't I tell him? What happened? How did-"

"Calm down, Frank. Calm down." Ivy sat down on the chair next to the desk. "In October, you started to put your sexuality into a lot of questioning. You couldn't understand why you saw boys in a light where people would normally see girls. And you had awkward moments that you would come to me and talk about because I was part of GSACA-"

"What's that?"

"Bayport's unique version of a gay straight alliance. The first thing I asked you, though, was why weren't you talking to Joe about it."

"And?"

"Joe had more of a social life than you. You were scared of what everyone else would think. You thought that Joe would tell everyone, and that he would reject you. You weren't even sure if you would be able to ask anyone but me at one point, because I was the only one you knew at the time who openly accept homosexuals."

"Joe wouldn't… would you?" Frank turned a hesitant look at me.

I thought it over, before shrugging. "Honestly, I don't have an idea how I would have acted. Maybe a less of a degree of what I did a few weeks ago…"

"You didn't accept me…?" The small hint of sadness in his voice popped out at me, and I instantly regretted my past actions.

"It was sudden. I was angry at you for not telling me. I was angry that you could of ruined my social life. I was angry at a lot of things."

"Bit of denial, Joe."

"Yeah, I know."

"Point is, you weren't accepted that well when you did reveal it," Ivy said, turning the attention back on Frank. "Any of this making any sense? Ringing any bells?"

Frank shook his head. "I don't remember any of that. Did I date anyone?"

"Phil Cohen."

"Phil?!" His face instantly grew red. "But he's… I mean, I never thought… he's gay?"

"Yeah."

"Where… where is he now?"

"It's awkward and depressing when you see your boyfriend not recognize you and possibly revert back to being straight, you know?" Callie said.

Frank looked back down. "I should talk to him. I mean… He would know a lot of this, right?"

"Probably." Ivy was about to get up, when her cell phone went off. She glanced at the small screen before she flipped it open. She mouthed "Phil" to us before she started talking.

"This… this is messed up." Frank said. "I mean…"

"That you're gay?" It was a possibility, since he wasn't gay until October.

"No. I mean, it _is_ kinda weird waking up and hearing everyone say 'Hey, you're gay!'" He chuckled a bit. "I mean, I don't remember anything. What's going on right now? Is there a case or something?"

"Yeah." Callie and I briefed him the best we could. Problem was, all we had was circumstantial evidence and a paper record some messed up chess game.

"And the possibility that Stacy made you forget because she knows the killer," Callie added.

"So Nancy or one of her friends could be a murderer. Or even all of them." Frank shook his head. "What kind of world is this?"

"A screwed up one." I got up from the bed. "Do you think you'll be up in helping us? Can't blame you if you aren't."

"This case caused this, Joe. Maybe this case will end it, too." Frank got out of bed, examining his room. "I just have to take it a bit slow. Maybe I wrote some stuff down somewhere."

"Can't search your room now," Ivy said, stuffing her phone into her pocket. "Our killer keeps on killing."

"Someone else is missing?" Did the killer take someone along with Adam? No one else was reported missing then, but there's a possibility-

"Stacy got a drink after calling Frank. They just found her dead, most likely poisoned. And there was a pawn in her cup." She shook her head. "The killer was trying to cover their tracks. They knew Frank was a threat, so they take him out before killing Stacy-"

"That doesn't make sense," Callie interrupted. "Why didn't they just kill Frank instead? I mean, Frank can get back his memory somehow. So why not kill him?"

"Phil mentioned that too. He's going to meet us at the police station for now, and we'll talk it over with George."

"Is George really trustworthy?" I hated to sound like I doubted George, but at this point it seemed like either Nancy, Bess, George, or Ned could have done all of this.

"Out of any of them, she's the most willing to help and the one most scared. According to most people, she can't act too well. From what I can tell, she's clear. And Phil did some 'tests', as he calls them." Ivy sighed. "And there's the gut feeling."

"She did have alibis for both disappearances," Callie pointed out. "Besides, we can't say that we don't trust anyone."

Frank nodded his head. "We won't tell her everything, but she probably understands that and will give us what we need."

"Okay, okay. I know when everyone's against me." I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. "Anything else before we go? Any accusations or comments? Complaints on how crazy this day has been?"

"One thing I probably should mention now instead of later," Ivy turned to me. "Your aunt is okay with Frank being gay, right?"

"She did a whole thing about how if Frank brought a biker home, she would kill him." I turned to Frank. "You need to get back your memory to remember that, bro. Funniest thing ever!"

"I'm sure it was," he said, cracking a grin.

"Then the only person we have to worry about is your dad," Ivy concluded.

"Why?" Frank asked.

"When the worst things happen to gay people who aren't accepted by family or friends, things tend to go bad. Sometimes the people around the victim will fake a giant fight or something so the person thinks that they shouldn't be a homosexual. They even blame accidents on the partner, and some people end up believing it. And some take advantage of the amnesia to tell people that they never were gay. It destroys people."

"Wait, you think Dad might do this?" I tried to imagine our father, Fenton Hardy, taking advantage of a situation to make Frank straight.

"When you got the call, Frank, Phil didn't call to your parents. He's worried something like this might happen, and it's more than possible."

"It's hard to imagine Mr. Hardy doing that," Callie said.

"It is, but it happens. I'm not saying it'll definitely happen either, but it's a possibility." Ivy looked at Frank and me. "Just be careful."

"And no one answered my earlier question," the other girl added.

I thought it over myself. "It is weird, not that I should be complaining. A forgetful Frank is better than a dead one."

Frank turned to Ivy. "You already seem to be a criminal profiler. What do you think?"

Ivy blinked, not masking her surprised. "A profiler? Well, I'll try." She thought for a second before speaking. "It seems like one or more of the killers have some kind of bond to you. They don't want to hurt you, but at the same time they want you out of the way. They might have even known that you were gay in October, so they had that section of your memories erased."

"A girl, then?" I asked.

"Maybe. We have two, though, possibly more."

"Then let's get going. Sitting here won't help us at all." I looked over to Frank. "Ready?"

"Why not? We want answers, and need to stop some killers."

I couldn't help but think, _Killers, or something worse?_

* * *

Poor Frank... I'm so mean to him. And Fenton. Oh well :)


	12. Chapter 12

Once again, sorry for the delay.  
I do not own Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
Enjoy!

* * *

~Joe

While driving to the police station, a single question ran through my mind: _What will Dad do?_

I stole a quick glance at my brother, who was just observing the surroundings. He hadn't realized what our father could do. In September, we had the same view about him like we'd always had. He was an awesome idol that we strived to be like.

Now… what could I say? That he was a different man? Or just that we could no longer understand him?

Ivy seemed calmer than usual. "He'll be fine, Joe. Right now, we have a murderer to catch."

"Yeah," I said softly. Turning into the police station, I asked, "Frank, do you want to… I dunno, stay with Phil?"

He gave me a look, before allowing his face to go back to the patented "Frank's thinking face" look. "Fine. But you have to give me all the info later."

"Deal." Parking the car, I pointed to the door. "You talk to Phil, and try to remember anything you can. We'll be inside."

"Yeah, whatever." He got out, and walked over to Phil.

"Think he'll be okay?" Callie asked.

"The faster he can remember, the better, I think." Pushing the thoughts of my father out of my mind, I looked towards the door, where Chief Collig was waiting for us.

"I think this little group keeps on getting bigger," he commented after greeting us.

"Did you figure out what happened with Stacy?" Callie asked.

He nodded gravely. "The chess piece was clear and frozen in some ice. It also had some kind of poison on it. We're still trying to identify which one, and how someone got inside in the first place."

"How about Adam? And where's George?" Ivy asked.

"Multiple stab wounds, and bullets to the heart. Oh, and that girl left with her friends."

"When? I mean, when was Adam killed?"

"We think about midnight or so."

"So, was he tortured beforehand?" I asked, remembering when Stacy kidnapped Frank.

"Can't tell yet," Chief Collig admitted. "We're still examining the remains for both of them."

"Why did we come here again?" Callie muttered under her breath.

"Did you examine the chess piece that Stacy have? You know, any engravings?"

"There was something. 'Only a pawn to move forward.'"

"So they used her," Ivy said. "Question is, who?"

"We're going through the contacts, but nothing pops out at us yet."

A thought suddenly appeared in my head. "Hey, can you make sure Stacy's death doesn't get on the news?"

He smiled. "I see where you're going. Phil over there already suggested it. We'll do what we can."

When we finished talking and speculating, Callie gave me a look.

"What?"

"So you're not letting anyone find out about Stacy's death?"

"Well, yeah. Now we just need Frank-"

"Need me for what?" Of course, Frank and Phil had perfect timing. They leaned against the car, trying to ignore the coldness of the day.

"You're going to pretend you're having a relapse of all the crazy things that bitch did to you. You never got into contact with Stacy," I explained.

"And how does- Oooohhhh," Ivy said.

"'Oh' what?" Phil asked. He's a smart guy and all, but I think there are times when he's completely clueless. Wish I could ask Frank about it…

"Stacy's 'alive.' And anyone who thinks otherwise…"

Callie sighed. "And what if it doesn't work?"

"Then… we'll improvise."

"Comforting," Frank said, rolling his eyes. "So what do we do now?"

-------------

"Dinner, boys!" Aunt Trudy called from the kitchen.

"Coming!" I shouted over my shoulder, before turning to Frank. "Rewind and repeat; you're gonna what?"

"I have to see with my own eyes what Dad will do. So…"

"I have to play along?" He nodded. "Fine, fine."

"It won't be _that_ bad." He led the way to the dining room.

_Yeah, right._ It was probably a bad call to tell our parents about Frank loosing his memory when we got home. But then again, how the hell would Frank have faked knowing things that happened that he doesn't remember?

Truthfully, I was a little curious to see how Dad would handle the whole situation. He wasn't going to take advantage of it… right?

It was fine until Mom asked, "So… how was your day?"

"Fine," Frank said casually. "Well, except the whole loosing my memory thing."

"That's what you get for dealing with things like mysteries!" Aunt Trudy waved her fork in the air. "All it gets you into is more trouble!"

"It wasn't like we _couldn't_ ignore it, Aunt Trudy!" I protested. "I mean, either we try and solve it, or there're a lot of dead bodies."

"I still think there is a place for the police in this world!"

"Do anything?" Mom said to Frank, trying to avoid an argument.

"Talked to Phil a lot. He seems kind of depressed." Frank shrugged. "It's kinda my fault since I don't remember, but at the same time, I like girls more than boys."

It lasted for only a second, but Frank and I caught that look on Dad's face. Full of hope and joy. Full of relief.

"But then again, who knows?" Frank added, before taking another bite of chicken. "Maybe I'll like boys again."

"But what's your preference right now?" Dad asked.

"I dunno."

"You would think that you're bi," I told my brother. "You know, since you were straight and were gay, it would kinda mix together. Maybe you'll even start dating Callie."

"Callie is a nice girl, Joe. I wouldn't be surprised if she won over Frank's heart." Dad said this without even _looking_ at Frank. He was probably hoping that I'll get some kind of message and push Frank in "the right direction."

Sorry, Dad, but I want Frank the way he was; intelligent, awesome (not that I'll ever say that to my brother's face, except on the really rare occasion), and gay.

"Missed her chance, I think. Besides, I think she said she had a crush on… what's-his-name?" I pretended to ponder for a second. "I think it was some brunette kid that came with the River Heights kids."

"Speaking of which, how's Nancy doing?" Aunt Trudy asked.

"Fine…" Okay, I really have no idea how she was doing. After we went to check on Frank, well… yeah… "I think Callie or Ivy was supposed to call her tonight, to see how she's handling the whole thing."

"I hope she's okay," Mom said.

"Yeah…" I managed to change the topic, shoving all of my worries out of my mind for a little bit, trying to leave all the pain behind.

------------

Sunday passed by faster, and before we knew it, it was back to school. Frank's teachers all found out about the little memory loss, and provided him with old notes until he was able to remember all of the facts that he need to know. Personally, I think Frank would have been fine without them. He read and learned _for fun!_

I was already in a bad mood when I got into English.

"So, how'd things go with your dad?" Ivy asked, watching me violently take out my notebook.

"If you hadn't warned us, I don't know what would have happened," I admitted. "I still can't believe it, though. I mean… He's our damn father!"

She shrugged in response. "I really don't know what I'm supposed to say."

"Something along the lines of 'He'll get over it.'"

"You know I won't lead you on like that."

"Yeah." I rested my head in my arms against the desk. "This is so messed up."

"It is. But at least you don't have to deal with what Matt's dealing with."

"How is he, anyways?"

"I dunno. He acted tough when I talked to him, and he didn't seem too shaken up. According to George, he never did get along with Adam well."

I frowned. "Then why room with each other?"

"No one knows. You can ask him right now, though." She gestured towards the door, where Matt was entering the room. Everyone hushed up for a second, before talking in whispers and stealing glances at the guy.

"Hey, Matt," I said. "You okay… you know, after everything that happened."

"I… it just seems like I'm in a different world. One minute, I'm on the computer, and the next, my roommate is murdered!" He shook his head. "It's like on one of those TV shows."

"Do you remember anything about it at all?"

"Not really. I did try to punch the guy when he was behind me, but they were really strong."

As usual, our teacher had bad timing. We were taking notes almost a minute after Matt told us what he did. But something bothered me. And the more I thought it over, the more it made sense…

When class was finally over, Matt grabbed his bag, and a piece of paper fell out.

"You should try zipping up your bag all the way," Ivy told him, handing back what appeared to be homework.

"I try, but there's so much to carry." Matt took back the paper. "Later, guys!"

Ivy and I were the last ones walking out of the class. I thought over a theory over and over, and turned to her. "Can we still use the art room to eat lunch in?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"We need to have a meeting. Us, Frank, Phil, Callie, and George. I need an opinion on something I was thinking up during class."

"Was that why you missed half of the notes?"

"Notes…?" I looked at the notebook she was carrying, to discover that my brainstorming was a giant distraction in class. I had only gotten a page down, and she had a packet worth!

"I'll lend them to you later," Ivy said with a sigh. "Your theory better be worth it."

"If we don't have any other ideas at the moment, I think this might be worth listening to."

"Just be careful, then. Remember what happened to Frank." Ivy went down a different hallway, leaving me to my thoughts.

It was hard to forget what happened to Frank. He had figured out it was Stacy… then he was kidnapped, tortured, and almost killed… And now he lost his memory…

_We'll figure this out. This, and the issue with Dad…_


	13. Chapter 13

For all of those dads out there today, Happy Father's Day!

Now to business...  
I do not own Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
And for another note, this plot will be wrapped up in a few more chapters (I think).

Enjoy!

* * *

~Frank

I could still hear the voices behind me. They weren't talking about me losing my memory, which was somewhat of a relief. Instead, they were talking about my preferences in partners.

What made it worse was that I was having issues looking at Chet and Biff directly. According to the others, they had been trying to avoid me after the whole "incident" (as Joe puts it). But now I could hear their whispers about me, and every time I tried to look at them, I felt fear. Callie thinks that it's the other hypnosis thing that Stacy did to me. I think it might be something different. I just don't know what.

Of course, Conrad had to show his ugly face and make the whole thing worse.

"You can see how gay he is by the way he walks," I heard him whisper (very loudly, might I add) to everyone else.

By that time, all the bull that I had heard from the first half of the day finally got to me.

"Really, Conrad? Because I was gay since _October_ and no one seemed to have noticed." Okay, so I was lying a bit. I don't remember if anyone actually noticed, but my gut feeling was telling me that no one did. Besides, if they were spitting out BS, why shouldn't I?

"Yeah… well…"

"I was perfectly the same, and no one seemed to have noticed." I didn't turn around to confront their faces. "It was only when I decided to tell people that all of you found out. And no one noticed a change before then."

"What're you tryin' to say?"

"That this is beyond stupid. So just leave me alone."

No one tried to stop me, either. It was kind of a relief.

"You okay, Frank?" Phil asked softly, almost surprising me. We had agreed on Saturday that I needed some space to clear out my head a bit. It was amazing how fast Phil agreed with me. Ivy told me that understanding people in a lot of situations was one of his "selling points."

I guess concern overrode our agreement.

"Depends. Does wanting to kick everyone's ass count?"

"If it makes you feel better." He leaned against the lockers as I opened mine. "Joe apparently came up with a theory, and he wants us to listen to it."

"When? After school?"

"No. We eat in the art room, and the teacher goes to the university to help out. So basically, we're alone."

I stuffed some textbooks onto the bottom shelf, making sure that they didn't crush each other. "It is weird to say that I felt as if I got a load off my chest a few minutes ago?"

Phil shrugged. "Maybe it's that little bit of memory that's hidden in you telling you that you did the right thing."

"Then how come that little bit of memory won't remind me about it?"

He didn't answer, so I decided to change topics. "So… how did we get together in the first place?"

"Ivy set us up. She wanted to lock us in a closet and see what happens, but she felt bad since you weren't ready to be open about it. So, instead, she dragged us to Izzy's and things went from there."

"Okay." Closing my locker, I turned to face him. "Are you doing alright though?"

"It's taking some time, but I'll be fine. It's you I'm worried about, truthfully."

"Worried about the guy who doesn't remember anything?" I couldn't help but laugh.

And, I'll admit, I think I was falling in love (again).

-----------

"Okay, here's my brilliant theory-"

"Don't start it with that opening. What happens if it fails?"

"Shut up, Callie." Joe shook his head. "So, anyways… After some deep thought-"

"During English class, when you should have been taking notes-"

"Okay, you two need to shut up," Joe said, pointing to Callie and Ivy. The five of us were in the art room, eating our lunches. "_Anyways_, has anyone else think it's kinda weird how Matt wasn't kidnapped too?"

"The police thought that too. But I think that, because he was a victim too, that they didn't really suspect him. Why?" Ivy asked.

Before Joe could answer, George came in. "Hi guys. Did I miss anything?"

"Nothing too big yet," Phil said. "Did Nancy and Bess keep you?"

"No. I honestly think that they didn't realize it, either." She sat down next to Callie. "But whatever. So, what's up?"

"Matt," I answered.

"Not being kidnapped, hating Adam yet rooming with him…" Joe racked his brain for more evidence stored away. "And his backpack."

"Backpack?"

"Since the cops searched the place and all, they didn't find anything suspicious. But what if all the tools were in his bag? You saw it yourself, Ivy; the thing was gonna burst open!"

"And he was dropping papers and…" She snapped her fingers. "That could be why we found that paper earlier! He dropped it completely by accident because of all the stuff he carries!"

"Exactly. Now the fun part is, we have to prove it!"

"Hold on, Joe. Half of the stuff you said was circumstantial," I said. "Besides, you're missing a motive."

My brother sighed in response. "You know, if we catch him first-"

"He hates a lot of people," George said, interrupting Joe. "In middle school, he messed up a really important play for the football team, and everyone holds it against him. It's kind of stupid, when you think about it, but I think he's a scapegoat for their lost."

"And he just hates everyone in return?" Something still didn't sound right.

"So, did the football team suddenly got into chess?" Phil asked.

"Well… no…" George looked away, probably from embarrassment.

"When did he join the chess team?" Ivy asked.

"Um… last year, about the same time Nancy, Ned, and Bess-"

"Bess is on the chess team?" Joe asked, surprised. "But she wasn't in the picture!"

"She doesn't want to seem like a 'geek' or something like that. When the yearbook committee came around, she chickened out of getting her picture with them. She's not that good at chess, anyways. I can beat her, and I only played a few times." She shrugged. "My cousin's kinda weird. I think there was some cute guy or something like that, and she stuck with it. Goes to every meeting she can."

"Does anyone else on the team dislike him?" Ivy asked.

"Maybe… Wait! There was some kind of tournament against another school a few months ago, and his game was the deciding game!"

"And he lost, I'm guessing," Callie said.

"Yeah. It was close, too." George sighed. "It wasn't pretty. The school the team was against ware our rivals in everything."

"Is it the same district that the football game was lost to?" I asked, seeing where this was going.

"Now that I think about it, I think so."

"Then we have a motive," Ivy announced. "Or, at least, in theory."

Joe stuck his tongue out at me, before turning to her. "Well?"

"It's a bit long, but I think that Matt harbored a deep anger at everyone since the football game. After a while, the anger wore out and he joined the chess team hoping for acceptance. And he was."

"Until he lost the game," Callie said.

"And he was rejected again. But this time, he's older and smarter. And it seems like he got some help from someone, so he could carry out his plans."

"And killed Adria and Adam," I added bitterly. "So this whole thing was about revenge."

"But why target Frank?" Phil asked, glancing over at me.

"Remember, previous ideas and evidence says more than one killer. One of the people helping Matt knows Frank, and doesn't want him hurt. At least, physically." Ivy frowned. "But the question is, did Frank make any friends before he lost his memory?"

"Thanks for talking about me like I'm not here," I muttered. "Unless you're talking about the Frank that didn't suffer memory-"

"Okay, now I'm getting confused," Joe complained. "And to answer the question, I don't remember seeing my brother with anyone besides me, you, Callie, or Phil."

"Same here," Phil said, shaking his head. "Except for us and Nancy-"

"Wait, Nancy could be a murderer?!" George almost screeched.

Oops.

"Um… maybe?" Joe tried to cover up lamely. "I mean, none of us are sure about anything at the moment…"

"Listen, Nancy would never murder anyone. Flat out, no way in hell-"

"How about Ned?" Ivy asked.

"Him? Well… He did hate Adam's guts. Adam helped Nancy through her whole breakup, and Ned was probably jealous when they got back together."

"So, it's most likely Ned," Callie concluded. "I think we should try to get to Matt, first. There'll be more evidence against him when we get a hold of his bag."

"And how are we going to do that?" Joe asked.

"You said his bag is just full of junk, right?" Phil asked. "I think if it's unzipped, a simple fall would put everything into the open."

"So, I think the main question is, who wants to trip him?"

--------------

It was decided that a combination of Joe and Ivy would be effective. Callie had gone with George to the room she was stuck in, and Phil was at the library. I was walking home, trying to gather my thoughts from the day.

And then there was a bang as something struck me, and I feel down. Landing in a bank of snow, I held up my right hand. It had been clutching where I felt pain just seconds ago.

Was that… blood?

I tried to see who my attacker was, but already I was feeling sick. Did someone hear anything? Could someone help me?

I held my hand up to my face again. The blood was definitely mine, and I could feel it being soaked up by my coat…

"Help me… please…"


	14. Chapter 14

Almost done...  
I do not own the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
Enjoy!

* * *

~Joe

"So how are we gonna do this?" I asked Ivy. We were on the staircase near the cafeteria, where both chess teams were meeting. I was hoping that Phil could help us, but he was stuck with a project, and headed to the library instead.

"I have an idea, but it all depends on how Matt reacts. Remember the way he reacted when we told him about the GSACA?"

"Freaked out, clueless, something along those lines."

"Well, I was thinking that maybe he's hiding his own feelings."

"Repeat that?"

"No support system, no GSA, no reliable friends, as far as we can tell. So, if he has weird feelings, who's he gonna confront about it?"

"So, there's a slight possibility that he's gay?"

"Slight." She held up her fingers, pinching the air with her index finger and thumb. "You can't tell who's gay or not just from that. But something's telling me that he either knows one, or is hiding in the closet himself."

"Well, I agree with the 'no idea of knowing' part," I commented.

My mind went to Frank. Dammit, he's been officially gay since October, and I never even noticed! We were close back then, too. The drama that I introduced into our lives with quitting ATAC started at the end of December, which would have given me two to three months to observe any change. But it was… normal.

Shaking my head out of my little daydream/brainstorm, I asked, "So…?"

"I pull him out of the crowd with that as a topic starter, and you plow him down. Since you're a bit klutzy, it'll probably look normal."

"Thanks." I closed my eyes, and sat on the stairs. "Can I ask you somethin' first?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Is there the slightest possibility that somehow, Frank turns straight again?"

Ivy looked up at the imprints of the staircase above us. "You're worried about what your dad can do, right?"

"Yeah."

She sighed. "Joe, I might have predicted what happened, but that was only a guess. You know what Einstein said once?"

"Um… e equals m c squared?"

"Close." She closed her eyes. "He said the only thing that you can be certain about in this world is the speed of light."

"So everything else is what? An illusion?"

"I guess you can interpret it that way. I think that it means that everything can change. You just hope it's for the best." Ivy got up, using the railing for support. "I'm gonna distract him now. You better be ready."

For some reason, my mind couldn't focus on the current situation around me. Even when I "ran" into Matt, sending both of us down, and I could hear someone yelling at me for being an idiot. I didn't even pay much attention to when everyone realized that the stuff that came out from Matt's bag, which he wore twenty-four/seven, were not normal books. Instead, they were knives and even a gun tucked away under all of the paper.

The phone call I got from Mom while some kids were restraining Matt as the police came explained so much, yet so little.

_"Frank's been shot."_

Everything else was a blur. I could hear everyone screaming, crying, or just watching the murderer. Then Ivy came and told me that she would take care of everything, and that I should go and help my brother.

And once I got into the car, I couldn't stop crying.

---------------

One moment, I was in the car, crying. Next moment, I realized I had drove to the hospital without mentally being there. Kinda scary, isn't it?

I found Mom outside of the room where Frank was.

"He was shot in the arm. The doctors think it was from only a few feet away. They… they said he was lucky," she muttered, staring at the ground for some answers. "They think that whoever it was didn't want to kill him."

"How long?" I asked quietly.

"An hour and a half ago. I tried to get to you earlier, but then your father took my cell phone and said he'll contact you. And… when Frank came out of the ER…"

"What? Is he okay?"

"Physically, yes. But he won't respond to anyone! And Fenton's been in there with him for at least thirty minutes. And when you didn't come, I assumed your father didn't contact you yet…"

"It's okay," I whispered. My mind was racing a mile a minute. The whole time I was at school, my cell phone was on (yeah, I know, against school rules and all). Anyone could have gotten to me, since the school had pretty decent signal. Hell, even when I plowed Matt over, I still would have noticed if my phone went off. So why the hell did Dad not call?

"I'll talk to Frank, and try to get him to snap out," I promised, before entering the room.

It was a depressing sight to see my brother there, staring into open space with a blank look. The infuriating sight was that I saw was my father, trying to talk to Frank. Frank was clutching onto Mom's cell, and every time our dad tried to hold his hand, Frank pushed him aside.

"You should go, Dad," I said, hiding any venom from my voice. He turned and looked at me, as if debating if I could mess up whatever he had been telling Frank. I'm assuming that in the end, he figured that if he couldn't get to Frank, then there was no way in hell I could. He nodded, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

I took the chair he was sitting in, facing the bed. "Hey, Frank. Guess what?"

Frank didn't respond in the slightest, so I continued.

"We proved that Matt was the killer! And I think I heard that they were arresting a guy named Jason for helping Matt." I frowned as I said this. Both of them were at school at the time of my brother getting shot. So that meant there was one more still out there.

Another memory crossed my mind. Nancy, Ned, and Bess weren't at the meeting. And since George was with Callie…

Damn.

"Hey, can I see the cell? I promise to give it back." I placed my hand over his, waiting to see how Frank would react. His grip loosened on the phone, so I took it.

I scrolled through the calls. According to the records, Dad _did_ make calls after Frank was shot. Just not to me. One was listed to be to Callie's house. I thought it was weird that he would know that number, until I remembered that this was Mom's phone and our mom and Callie's mom were BFFs.

I didn't recognize the other number, so I punched it into my phone for later reference. I handed Frank back the phone, but this time he didn't even touch it.

"I think Dad tried to get a hold of Callie. He thinks that she still has a crush on you," I said, as if this were a normal conversation. "But, for crying out loud, you have clearly established the fact that you're gay! I mean, not that you remember it or anything. But damn… I think you were really happy then."

Frank once told me that I ramble after near-death experiences. And I do, especially when I'm just overwhelmed. I guess this counts as one of those times.

"It's kind of weird, too. All these girls are attracted to you for some weird reason, and yet you go after Phil Cohen! Not that there's anything wrong with that, really. I won't have to deal with a sister-in-law, and that would have been horrible. I mean, if you fell for Callie! She would be kicking my ass during every family reunion for doing something…" I grinned at the thought, looking at the bed sheets.

"You know what this kinda reminds me of? When we were at that juvenile detention center... Camp Wilderness! That 'Smiley' guy tried to torch you, and when they treated you for all the burns, you were on those pain meds. And when you get pain meds, you get all loopy. You were talking about Santa, how you liked Nancy's car… I think you mentioned that you liked her hair too, but that's before your whole inner-turmoil thing. And… and you were talking… and…"

I was ready to cry again. I wanted my brother back. The one that was smart, witty, gay, and just fun to have around.

"And you saved my ass, too. Even though you were the 'hard core, I don't give a damn' kind of guy, and I was Mr. Couch Potato. Damn, you've saved my ass so many times… And we went to so many cool places. Philly was awesome, and that extreme sports contest was cool! Remember the monster loop we went through, because we thought Chet was Mr. X?"

"Joe?"

"Hold on a minute, Frank-" It took me a second to realized what I just said. I looked up, and saw Frank looking back at me, smiling. "Frank!"

His smile grew wider as I got up to hug him. "You okay, little bro?"

"Okay? _You_ were the one who wasn't responding to anyone!"

"Yeah-" Frank frowned slightly. "Wait, everyone?"

"Well, except for me."

"I was trying to ignore Dad originally," he explained. "He kept on going on about how he was calling my 'girlfriend' to the hospital… I just got sick and tired of it, so I started spacing out. I kinda just got back to reality when you gave me back the phone."

"Wait, so you heard me rambling?"

"A bit," he admitted with a grin. "I wasn't fully back, and it was nice remembering all the old missions."

I thought for a second. "You're probably on meds because of your arm, and considering how well you and painkillers mixed the last few times, I guess it added up."

"I guess." He looked down at his arm. "I was walking home, and then all of a sudden my arm is shot! And the weird thing is, even though I didn't see the person, I think I heard them talking!"

"Who was it? Male or female? Who-"

"I don't remember the voice. I think it was muffled, anyways," Frank said, stopping my questions. "But I kinda remembered what they said. I… I think they called for an ambulance for me!"

"Well, that's not weird. Shooting someone, then making sure they got the proper care. It's like they didn't want to kill you!" I explained the stuff Mom told me about the attacker.

"So injure me, but not kill me?" He looked puzzled. "Why?"

"I think it's like Ivy said. The person doesn't want you dead, just out of the way."

"Which crosses Ned off, doesn't it?" Frank stared at the wall for a second, which freaked me out. I was not going to ramble to get him back to reality again!

He spoke before I smacked him, though.

"I… I just realized… I remember everything! About being with Phil, hanging out with Ivy, and the whole case with Stacy!" My brother's eyes were wide in disbelief. "I think the shock and emotional stuff cuz of Dad undid whatever Stacy did to me!"

"Alright! Now all we need to do is let your arm heal," I said, motioning to the cast and sling his left arm was now donning.

"Yeah. It's weird, though." He frowned again. "I'm right-handed, so you think that if a person wants to make sure that I'm out of the picture, they would shoot my right arm instead."

"It makes me think it was Nancy," I commented.

My phone began to ring. Taking it out, I checked the number before putting it on speaker. "Callie?"

_"Is Frank okay? Your dad left a message on my answering machine, and he said that Frank was hurt and-"_

"I'm fine, Callie," Frank said, smiling.

_"Oh, thank goodness! Wait… weren't you shot?"_

"In the arm," he admitted. "But I got my memory back because of it, so I think it evens out…"

_"It 'evens out'? How the hell can you say that?! But… never mind. We got bigger issues."_

"What's up?"

_"Well, Matt and Jason confessed to Adria's and Adam's death, but not Stacy's. Police think that there's one more person, so school's been shut down for the rest of the week."_

"That's not _too_ bad," I commented.

_"Not funny, Joe. Brings me to issue number two; Nancy, Ned, and Bess had apparently disappeared after school, and no one knows where they are!"_

* * *

The old missions that Joe mentioned were actual UB books. The first mission was "Operation: Survival" and the second one was "Extreme Danger"


	15. Chapter 15

Sorry for taking so long. I got over the writer's block that I had for this chapter during my vacation that involved no computers... Hopefully, the other chapters will come to me faster.

One note that I probably should have mentioned earlier: Frank's a junior, and Joe's a sophmore.

I do not own the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
Enjoy!

* * *

~Frank

"Well, good news is that school's closed. Bad news is because three kids have gone missing, and one of them is a murderer," Joe said, leaning on the chair. I had been released from the hospital earlier this morning, which was a day after I went in. We were now sitting around the house, trying to figure out where the trio from River Heights were.

Or, at least, I was trying.

"You've said that about a billion times," I commented.

"Well, I find it weird. Every time we chase down a bad guy, school still goes on. And this time-"

"This time we're in the district, so of course school would be closed." I sighed. "Come on, be serious for a sec-"

"Serious? You were all serious, and looked what happened to you!" He pointed at my arm, which was in a cast, in a sling. "I think I'll be better off just walking around."

"Yeah, but where?" Sometimes, Joe messes with me as a way to show that he's "glad I'm alive." This time, he seemed to be taking things too far.

"I dunno, but somewhere is better than just sitting here!"

"Then join one of the search parties." I looked through the journal entries we were given from Adria's diary. I still couldn't figure out what seemed so off…

"Fine! Whatever!" Joe got up (very violently, I must add) and stormed out of my room. A second later, Callie walked in.

"What's up with him?" she asked, eyeing the doorway.

"No idea. He's been acting strange the second he woke up."

"Nice to know." She looked over my shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out what's been bugging me since we got them."

"Oooookay." She walked away, and sat in the chair Joe abandoned. "Can I ask you something while you do that?"

"Um… sure."

"What was that hesitation?"

"Isn't there some girl code that says you only talk to other girls about deep, personal matters?"

"What makes you think this is personal?"

"Tone of your voice when you asked. You were half whispering."

"How was I-" She threw her hands up in the air in defeat. "You know what? I'm just gonna ask. How the hell did you figure out you were gay?"

Out of all the questions in the world, she asks me that one.

"Why you need to know?" I asked. "I mean, I don't mind telling you…"

"Please, just tell me."

I looked up from the journal pages. "I blame it on these girls that I saw during one of the missions. We were in Atlantic City, watching over a son of big politician. He was hanging with some girls, and at one point one of them started squealing and pointed to a guy on the beach. And when she started asking if he was hot, and I felt like answering 'Yes he is.' All of a sudden, I just felt really awkward."

Callie frowned at my answer. "But didn't you have some kind of gradual realization?"

"I might have." I thought it over, before shrugging. "If there was, I can't remember. Only that one time really stood out, and that's when I started questioning myself. Then school started, and I found out about GSACA. I talked to Ivy, and she just sat there and listened."

"Oh."

"Now, why are you asking?" I wanted to throw in _How does this relate to the case?,_ but that sounded too mean.

"Because… Imightbegay."

I blinked. "Okay, did you just say that you could possibly be gay, or did all the words mush each other up?"

"I. Might. Be. Gay." Callie said the words slowly and clearly, obviously somewhat over her shyness of the whole situation.

_Okay, so I'm not hearing things…_ "When? How?"

"I… I don't know! It's kinda like that sudden realization that you had! And I didn't know who else to ask! I decided to go to you instead of Phil because it just seems easier to talk to you-"

Now it was my turn to frown. "What about Ivy?"

"I've started avoiding her."

"Because…?"

There was a psychology book that I once read that talked about how girls bully others. (And honestly, it was for ATAC. It's easier to deal with criminals if you know how their brain works. Joe still doesn't believe me, but I swear it's the truth.) Girl use emotional trickery, apparently, because of some social order imposed on them not to fight physically. And one of the big issues mention was that girls don't like to feel isolated, and become very emotionally damaged if they are. I was kinda hoping this wasn't what the book was talking about…

Callie must have read my mind. "We didn't get into a fight."

"Then why?"

"I might have a crush on her."

This day just keeps on getting weirder and weirder.

"Callie, this is you we're talking about. _You._ I've known you since elementary school, and usually you voice your own opinion. Even when you had that crush on me, you outwardly told me to take my time in finding love. The only reason I probably didn't realize it was because I couldn't talk to girls all that well."

"But I'm not even sure!"

"Does your stomach flutter and do flips every time you see her?"

"Uh… kinda?"

"You imagine going on dates with her?"

"Once… or twice…"

"Do you feel comfortable around her? Like, she's the only person who understands you?"

"Yeah…"

"Then you most likely do have a crush. And somewhere along the lines of being either bi or a lesbian."

"Well… how did you know you liked Phil? Was it like that for you?"

"No. Ivy just kinda set me up on the date. Phil, on the other hand, apparently had a crush on me since freshmen year."

"He held a crush for two years?!"

It felt like I wasn't talking to the same Callie I had come to know and love. "That's what I said. But, it worked out."

"Great." She leaned back against the chair. "Should I ask her out?"

"Or you can stare at her for two years-"

"You're insulting me, aren't you?" Phil asked, walking into my room, Ivy in tow. Callie tried to shrink away from view the second she saw the other girl.

"Or merely commenting on how your devotion lasted through a battle with time and patience." I paused for a second. "Then again, yes. I am insulting you."

"I missed you too." He pecked me on the cheek. "Where's Joe?"

"You missed his raging storm of anger." I sighed, and looked back at the papers in my hand. "Can you see anything wrong with this page?"

"Besides the pencil marks-"

"Pencil?" Ivy looked confused. "Weren't those entries in pen?"

"They are." I handed the pile to Phil. "What are the pencil marks?"

He held it up towards the light fixture overhead. "Some kind of writing. She pressed down really hard, but the pen is making it hard to read."

"Great…"

Callie was still trying to disappear. Ivy, on the other hand, stopped her. Whether she heard the conversation or not was beyond me.

"Hey, Cal, you okay?"

"Yeah, fine! Just thinking… if I should call George or not! I mean, she's probably searching for her friends, but maybe she'll let us snoop in her room-" Callie got up abruptly, and as she walked out, she told us, "I'm gonna call her."

"Is she okay?" Phil asked.

"Kinda?" Callie never acted like this, as far as I know. She's calm, cool, and collected. The three C's of being Callie.

Problem was, if I told either one of them, more than likely Callie was gonna kill me. And that definitely wasn't a good thing.

"Should I check on her?" Ivy asked, sounding worried.

"No! I mean, she's okay. She's just having some issues about a crush," I said. Phil gave me a look, but I ignored it. "So, what happened while I was in the hospital?"

"Joe didn't tell you?"

"He woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Anything pass the news 'The trio's missing' would be nice to know."

Phil shook his head. "That's all we do know. The search parties have been looking anywhere and everywhere, but there're no signs."

"Weird. All three of them have been used to mysteries, so they should know how to leave some kind of clue," I said. "Unless the murderer tricked them into going."

"Makes sense. They're playing against familiar people, so they prepared."

"The question I want answered is the motive. Why would they help kill?" Ivy asked, watching Phil try and decipher the erased words.

"Besides the chess club…" I closed my eyes, trying to connect the victims in my head. "Didn't they have some kind connection between either Nancy or Ned?"

"Adira dated Ned, and I think Adam got close to Nancy. But why- Oh!"

"Threat to them being a couple seems like a good motive," I said.

Callie came into my room, followed by George. The tomboy had a mixed expression of worry and exhaustion on her face. Callie, on the other hand, seemed to have gotten over her sudden panic and appeared almost normal. Only difference I noticed was that she wouldn't look at Ivy.

"The police blocked off our room to look for clues," George explained, collapsing on the bed. "I had to room with a friend of mine last night after searching. Only thing I have right now is Bess's gym bag. She left it at school."

"Looks like there's a book in there," I commented, pointing to the outline that the thin cloth of the bag provided.

George pulled out a small notebook. "It's her planner. Agenda. Whatever you call it." She tossed it over to be, before lying down. "If this is really Nancy or Ned, why did they drag Bess into this? She'd never hurt them!"

"Why kidnap in the first place?" Ivy added. "Unless the murderer turned into one of those abusive types, and tried to keep the person all to themselves…"

"Just for the record, this is getting really, really confusing," Callie said.

"I'll say." Phil shook his head. "Well, I sorta figured out what Adria wrote. And it just adds on to the confusion."

"What's it say?"

"You won't believe this. Actually, maybe you will. 'Ned is a two timing bastard. Nancy has eyes everywhere but her man.' And there was one more… Oh, yeah. 'Bess is so gay that'… and the rest is lost." He looked over at me, and then Ivy. "How is it that 'gay' is an insult?"

Ivy shrugged. "People don't like the idea of being gay, apparently."

"That's it!" I exclaimed, the ideas finally falling into place.

"Um… what's it?"

I flipped through the small notebook. "Adria's insults _are_ true, in their own bizarre way. Ned was the one who broke up with Nancy, right?"

"Yeah," George confirmed. "They had a huge argument over it."

"And he still looks at other girls," I pointed out. "He could be cheating on Nancy right now!"

"Nancy always talks about other guys," Callie added. "She basically was planning to hit on you the second you invited her over!"

"But Bess isn't gay!" George protest. "I know my cousin-"

"Not well enough." I held out the opened page to her. "This is where everything falls into place."

"Oh my God…" Ivy mumbled, leaning forward to get a better look at the writing under the picture. The other two looked as well, their mouths opened in surprise. "This is why people died? Over _this_?"

"Over an obsession," I corrected. "And more people are gonna die unless we find them."

"Which bring us back to issue number one," Callie said.

"Nope." I flipped through the book, and found a different page with the date scribbled on top. "All the answers are right here."

* * *

The book Frank mentions is Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons.


	16. Chapter 16

And now to end the mystery...  
I do not own Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
Enjoy!

* * *

~Joe

I didn't remember much from the past hour. All I could grasp was that the three were in none of the areas that I was searching in.

I was searching near the school, a place many people ignored for the logical reasons. But something told me differently. My mind didn't say, "Go away from the supposed beginning point. No one will be there." Instead, it said, "Where's the one place that everyone would avoid?"

And no, I did not mean skipping school on a day to day basis.

Even though the school was closed down (along with every other one in the district), I had some connections with some inside people to let me look around. Namely, a janitor named Loretta who happened to be a friend of mine. She made me swear not to get into any trouble or mess anything up, then let me roam free within the building.

The question now was, where could you hide people in this school?

I had checked my fifth classroom when I saw Frank, Phil, Callie, Ivy, George, and Chief Collig running down the hallway.

"Frank?"

"Come on!" They turned into another hallway, leaving me with no choice but to follow.

They ran for the auditorium, which had been left alone since the orientation for the River Heights kids. The curtains of the stage had been drawn close.

"There's no one here," the chief said, sounding disappointed.

"Not here. There's a staircase in the back that leads to the basement," Ivy explained. "The curtains are really thick, and were special ordered to keep sounds blocked between the audience and the cast."

"Never knew that," I commented, climbing onto the stage.

"Not many people do." She pulled back the curtains, and led us to the stairs at the side.

We walked down quietly. I didn't know what to expect, but I assumed that my brother did. His eyes were tense, searching for something…

Chief Collig was the one who spoke first. "Hands in the air!"

At times like these, it makes me really annoyed about having the police right by your side. Yeah, he had a gun. But the murderer had hostages.

Seeing who the kidnapper/murderer was made me forget my anger.

"Bess?!"

She looked up from Nancy and Ned, each tied up and were separated from one another. Nancy seemed to have more freedom, though. Her ankles were not tied as tightly, and she was leaning against the wall for support. The worst part about the scene was that Bess had a gun in her hand, aiming for Ned, who was lying on the floor. Alive, but definitely not safe from danger.

"You shouldn't have tried to find me," the girl said in a soft voice. "You shouldn't have found out like this-"

"Why, though?" I asked. "Why?"

She shook her head slowly. "You wouldn't understand."

"Bess, please!" Nancy pleaded. "You still haven't answered us."

"You're scared of the truth, aren't you?" Frank said. "You're scared to admit it."

"You found out?" Her face seemed surprised, before taken over by sadness. "No, you couldn't understand. You couldn't…"

"You're gay. But you couldn't tell anyone. You didn't even have any form of support, since your school didn't have a GSA."

"What?" I said, totally surprised. Bess wasn't gay… was she?

"I tried talking," Bess admitted. "I asked my parents a hypothetical question, and all they did was throw my heart into the fire and let it burn!"

"But you still fell in love. And since you were so scared to say anything, you decided that if you couldn't be happy, then she should be happy." Frank glanced at Nancy. "You decided to kill in order to help Nancy."

"What?!" Nancy looked at Bess, then at Frank. "What do you mean? Those deaths didn't help me at all!"

"They kinda did," Callie said. "You see, Bess thought you were most happy with the partner of your choice, which was Ned. Adria and even Adam were threatening that happiness. Adam made you feel that you were miserable with Ned, right?"

The strawberry blonde didn't answer, so Bess supplied one instead. "You were unhappy that someone else was possibly happier than you, Nance. The only way to fix that was that was killing him."

"How'd you get mixed up in this?" Nancy asked Bess, tears threatening her eyes.

"Matt and Jason were mad at people. They were the only ones who listened to me and helped me when I was dealing with becoming gay! And… one day I overheard them talking about their own made up game. Jason was 'The Dealer' and Matt got to be 'The Roller.' They would play chess, and each time it was them against someone who didn't even know they were playing. The person's actions in real life equated to their moves."

"Which is why some of the moves don't make sense," Phil said.

"Yeah. If the person won because they were being nice and all, their lives would be spared. If they lost, they were killed. Problem was, they couldn't chose who they wanted to start this little game. That's where I came in. I was 'The Roulette.'"

Ivy frowned. "You're not a person, but an object?"

"I never really killed. Even when I got to Stacy, I only poisoned her. I can't… I can't…"

"You hate blood," Callie concluded.

Bess nodded. "So I got to choose who the person would be. And it worked. Adria's gone, so Ned couldn't cheat with her-"

"You cheated on me?!" For a second, the whole situation seemed like some kind of drama you would only find in high school. Nancy glared at Ned, who didn't look back.

"Well… you know…"

"He found another girl, too," Bess said. "So, after all of that, I thought that I should go and kill him. Then Nancy would be all mine-"

"Bess, why didn't you talk to me?" George asked. "We could have talked this out, and-"

"You don't understand! The whole world was against me!" Bess waved the gun in front of Ned, as if ready to shoot. "No one really gave a damn! Everyone… everyone just…"

"They left you," Frank finished off. "No one wanted to deal with you if you showed your true feelings. They were gonna kill you with words and attacks…"

"Yeah…" It looked as if Bess had broken down on the inside. She gave up trying to fight us. Maybe talking about why she did it made her realize-

"Well, duh!" Ned practically shouted. "Who'd want to be friends with a _lesbian?"_

First rule of being a hostage: Don't try and piss off the person who has your life in their hands. I mean, you probably already pissed them off; otherwise they wouldn't have kidnapped you in the first place. But adding onto the anger just makes things worse.

Not to mention the fact that Bess clearly had the intention to kill him in the first place, and is still holding a gun.

"I mean, who wants to deal with a freak? I could barely even stand those two," Ned continued, motioning to where Frank and Phil were standing. "Much less that freakin' lesbian next to them."

Ivy muttered, "I'm _bi_, thank you very much."

At the same time, Callie mumbled, "I just figured it out, asshole."

Wow. If this wasn't such a dire moment between life and death for some of us, I probably would have started bombarding Callie with questions.

"Is that really what you think?" Bess said in a soft voice.

"Hell yeah! No one in our school would be able to _tolerate_ someone like you," Ned spat. "You should have stayed in the closet, where you belonged! And now that you're dragging Nancy into it, you just made my life without her easier! You'll both be the laughing stock!"

"Bess, don't listen to him," Phil said. "It'll be fine."

"Come on, Bess," George added. "We'll be here for you."

The voices seemed useless, though. I could catch that small glint in her eyes. The same look that I've seen so many other people have when they're ready to kill.

"Bess…" I stepped forward, but she held up the gun and aimed it at me.

"I'm sorry Joe. You were really nice. All of you." Tears were starting to come from her eyes. "It's too late for me, though."

"No it isn't," I protested. Despite of what she had done (and possibly what she was going to do), I still loved her. My crush did diminish a bit over the fact that she was gay, but I still cared for her a lot. "We can help you, Bess-"

"Help her? With what, hooking up with twenty girls a night? Dragging Nancy's image to a bottomless pit?" Ned said.

"Okay, you need to shut up," Ivy countered. "You're supposed to be her friend, and all you've been doing is ridiculing her! What the hell is your problem?"

"You wanna know my problem? I surrounded by a bunch of fags, that's what! And my ex-girlfriend-" he yelled, motioning at Nancy, "-is probably one too!"

"Bess, don't listen to him!" Nancy protested. "Please. Just put down the gun and free us."

If anyone could get through to Bess at this very moment, it was probably Nancy.

But it didn't seem that way. "He's right, Nance. You're gonna get taken down with in school. This was why I never told you."

"It's okay Bess. Really." Nancy seemed close to crying herself. "Come on, Bess. Just drop the gun."

"I'm sorry, Nancy. I… I don't want you hurt." Bess moved in front of Nancy, bending over so they could see eye to eye. "Believe me."

"I believe you."

"I never deserved you in the first place…" Bess let out a small sob, before bringing their lips together. Nancy didn't fight it. Instead, she closed her eyes and let herself go.

Chief Collig, who was silent the whole time we were talking, still had his gun ready. "Never in my entire life…"

Bess pulled back. "I'm sorry Nance. I can't undo everything…"

"Bess, it's okay."

"You're not going to get taken down." Bess held the gun tighter.

"Bess!" Was she going to shoot Ned? I mean, I couldn't really blame her… but it'll probably be worse-

Instead, she turned the gun to aim at her head. "I'm sorry, everyone. And, I love you, Nancy Drew."

"NO!"

It was too late. The gun went off, and Bess crumpled to the floor. Nancy maneuvered herself so that she was kneeling next to the body, crying over the cooling corpse.

* * *

Okay, now for some input from the readers. There are two possible paths I can take the story now. One ends this, while another drags in a sequel. It really doesn't matter to me which way this goes, so you guys can decide.  
(Note: Please add a review if you want a sequel. I should of mentioned this before, but I want some other feedback besides just being told to add a sequel)


	17. Chapter 17

Almost done!  
I do not own the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
Enjoy!

* * *

~Frank

A day after Bess committed suicide, and the school district was still closed down. Not that anyone wanted to go back to a place where a murderer killed herself.

Five of us were sitting around in my room. Phil and I were sitting on my bed, Joe took the swivel chair, and Callie and Ivy were leaning against the wall. Nancy and George were probably with teachers or a psychologist. No one really cared about Ned, since George had allowed it to slip about Ned's final words to Bess.

"It's hard to believe that he hated us so much," Joe commented. "I mean, he seemed like a nice guy. Well, after he gave you that dirty look for trying to steal his girl."

"I never tried to steal Nancy," I reminded my brother. "It just… well…"

"Some people manage to hide their aggressions," Ivy supplied. "But that's the first time I've seen someone explode about it."

"Can he get into trouble?" Callie asked. "I mean, he did push Bess into suicide."

I shrugged. "Collig might try something, since he witnessed it all. Problem is, Bess was a killer. Not sure how well you can swing a jury with that little fact."

"Well, even if there is no trial, Ned's gonna be living through quite some hell," Phil said.

"How so?"

"Some people are really pissed at him for doing that. Others just needed a reason to start picking on him. He's gonna be bullied like there's no tomorrow."

"But is that enough?" Ivy asked.

I knew what she was thinking, and shrugged again. "I'm sure a lot of people are going to ruin the rest of his life after this incident."

"And what about Bess's reputation?" Joe asked, staring at the floor.

"We'll have to ask Nancy and George about that." I moved my left arm, trying to get comfortable in the sling. "I heard that they found a written confession. Bess explained why she did what she did, and how she was planning to kidnap Nancy and kill Ned."

"And why she shot you?" Phil asked.

"Maybe."

"At least it was your arm," Joe said. "It would probably be worse if it was your leg. Or your right arm. The only issue you have right now is that you can't play sports."

Callie rolled her eyes. "Are you serious, Hardy? Frank was shot in the arm, almost lost to us if you hadn't talked him out of his trance-like state, and the only issue you mention is him not playing sports."

"We can't sign up for sports, remember?" I added. "Too many missions takes time off of practices _and_ games."

"Ooohhh. That explains why you're in so many clubs," Ivy said. "I thought it was weird that you did a lot of stuff."

"What do you mean, 'so many'? I thought he was only in GSACA," Joe said.

"He helps the drama club with set building and prop managing, is in the book club, speech and debate…"

"And how would you know that?" I asked.

"You _told_ me, remember? Beginning of the year, GSACA asked everyone what other things they made commitments to."

"That's a lot, though," Callie said. "Even for you."

"Especially now that your arm is in a cast," Phil added.

"I'm already dropping two of them. Tanner is taking over the props, and the speech and debate team found more members. They only needed me because they didn't have a lot of people, and had no chance in sweeps." I looked at all of their confused faces. "Sweeps. Overall school performance."

"Aaaaanyways…" Joe said. "Do you think the River Heights kids are all going back home cuz of this?"

"A lot of people want to," Callie replied. "Can't blame them, really. They want to put it all behind them."

"Especially the chess team. They are never going to be the same again," Phil said.

"Are you kidding? Something like this should be good for them. Show them that chess isn't just for nerds, but for murders, and conspirators, and-"

I was about to grab my pillow and chuck it at my brother with my good arm. Phil beat me to it.

"Thank you, Phil." I leaned against his shoulder. He, in turn, wrapped an arm around my waist.

"It's nice to see that one of the things you two have in common is enjoying hurting Joe," Ivy commented.

"Great. Perfect," Joe said in a sarcastic tone. "Now all I need is someone who likes to torment Frank and I'll be set."

"Well…" Callie smirked, and seemed like she was holding back a laugh. "There is Brian Conrad."

We all cracked up at the thought.

"By… by the way…" Joe managed to get out in between his remaining laughter. "You're gay, Callie?"

Callie froze. "Huh?"

"You mentioned it yesterday when Ned said something about Ivy being a lesbian. So… is it true?"

This time, Callie literally froze. Ivy moved a bit, and began to lightly slap the other girl.

"Hey, Cal? Cal?" Ivy moved again, and began slapping Callie's face lightly. Main problem for Callie was that she was now staring directly at her crush.

_Well, if I say something, she's gonna kill me,_ I mused in my head. _Then again, she'll kill me for_ not _doing anything._

That left me with only one decent option. I got up, walked across the room, and pushed Ivy's head towards Callie's.

I retreated back as their lips met, taking my seat as if nothing had happened.

Joe stared in horror as Phil whispered, "Callie's gonna kill you."

I shrugged. "I was screwed the second Joe opened his mouth."

"So, I'm guessing you already knew. Meaning that's what she told you yesterday."

"Yeah." I watched as the two shared a long kiss. "Owed Ivy for getting us together, anyways."

He smiled in response, kissing my temple.

Joe moved the chair so that he was on my other side. "I can't help feeling… bad."

"Huh? What for?" I asked.

"This is what Bess wanted, isn't it? People who she would not be scared of admitting her feelings. Who joke and laugh with her, without the afterthought of wondering if they're laughing at her."

"I guess." The words sounded familiar, and it took me a sec to realize that they were the same things _I_ worried about before.

By then, Callie and Ivy broke apart. They stared at each other for a moment, before Callie directed her gaze at me.

"You are a dead man," Joe whispered.

In response, I mumbled, "Tell me something I don't know."

Callie got up, helped Ivy stand, and proceeded to drag her out the door. "We'll be over at my house," she said, before leaving my room.

After a minute, I said, "Well, that could have been a lot worse."

"So what do we do now?" Phil asked.

Joe took out his cell phone, scrolling through it. "I gotta check something out. I'll leave you two lovebirds for now. But remember, I don't want to hear any moaning-"

I grabbed the pillow from the floor, and hurled it at Joe. He dodged, running out of my room, laughing.

"So, what are you gonna do when he gets a girlfriend?" Phil asked, chuckling.

"Tell her that she can do way better." I flopped back down on the bed. "It's hard to believe everything turned out the way it did."

"Yeah. Kinda makes me wonder what would have happened if Bess told her."

"But she probably never would have," I muttered.

"Huh?"

"It's like… You would have never mentioned the fact that you were gay, much less that you had a giant crush on me, if I was straight."

"Probably."

"But you would still make sure I was okay with my partner of choice."

"Because I care, yeah." He frowned. "But killing is a little too much for me."

"Yeah…" I leaned against his shoulder. "Matt and Jason did it for revenge, but Bess… she got caught up in it all. And now she's the one that's dead."

"Do you think she would have killed Nancy in the end?" Phil asked quietly.

"Maybe."

We were silent for a moment. I started thinking about what could have happened.

_Bess could have found a way to confide in someone. Maybe Nancy and Ned would have broken up, and then the two started dating. Maybe…_

There was also the bad sides of the "what if." As in, what happened if Bess didn't mind the sight of blood so much?

I sighed out loud, earning myself a look from my boyfriend. Instead of answering the unasked question, I just smiled.

"I forgot to tell you, thanks."

"Why?"

"For putting up with me." He gave me another questioning look, so I explained. "When I had amnesia, you didn't push on me that I was gay. You just let me readjust, no matter how much it probably hurt you."

"Well…" He avoided my gaze. "I didn't want to force anything on you, you know?"

"It was incredibly kind, selfless-"

"Don't start listing things, please."

"Fine." I pulled the collar of his shirt, and smashed our lips together. When we pulled apart, I added, "Next time, you can make out with me until I remember."

"Let's hope it doesn't get to that." Phil wrapped his arms around me, and pulled me into another kiss.

"Frank, have you've seen-" Aunt Trudy's voice abruptly stopped, and Phil and I pulled apart quickly. I silently cursed Joe, since he didn't bother closing the door when he left.

"Aunt Trudy?" I said innocently (while trying to fight off a blush I knew was beginning to spread on my cheeks), watching her trying to shake the image out of her head.

After a few moments, she repeated her question. "Have you seen Joe? Your father is looking for him."

"He didn't say where he was going," I managed to say.

"Well, I'll find him! Oh, and, uh… nice to see you here… Phil."

"Nice to see you too, Ms. Hardy." If there was one thing I envied about Phil, it was the fact that he acted all composed while I suffered from the embarrassment.

Aunt Trudy walked away, and I couldn't help but release a breath of relief. Man, I thought she was going to read me the riot act! Then again, looks like she was saving it for Joe. Especially since she was now shouting, "Joseph Irving Hardy! Come out here right this instant!"

Almost the second Aunt Trudy could be heard walking downstairs, Joe slipped into my room. "Oh, good. You both still have clothes on-"

"You're gonna wake up to a cup of ice water tomorrow, Joe."

"From who, you or Aunt T?" Ignoring my glare, he handed me a piece of paper. "I'll tell you how I found out later, but I want you to read this."

"Okay." I took the page, which was warm and felt as if it had just recently been printed. "Why does Dad want to talk to you?"

"Hell if I know. I'm gonna find out now." He slipped through the door (shutting it this time), and began to yell for our aunt.

I glanced at the paper, skimming through it. Then I really read it. And reread.

"What is it?" Phil asked, leaning over my shoulder.

"An ad for an apartment in New York City." What I didn't say could easily be seen; Joe had written a note next to the paper that said, _Sold, Fenton Hardy, two days ago._


	18. Chapter 18

Okay, last chapter!  
I do not own Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.  
Enjoy!

* * *

~Joe

"No," I said firmly. "I'm not leaving."

"You should think this over," my dad said.

"It doesn't need any thinking over. I'm _not_ going!" I got up and left the study, making sure that I slammed the door extra loud for good measure.

Who the hell does my father think I am? I know what the answer is, I'm not going to think any of it over, I just wanna-

"Joe?" Frank said softly. He looked out from his doorway, not understanding what I had just gone through.

"He thinks I'm gonna leave you," I mumbled as I walked pass him. "That stupid bastard doesn't get it…"

"What's going on?" he asked. "Is Dad moving?"

I nodded. "He wants me to go, too. But… but…"

I couldn't stop the tears that were coming. I just hugged Frank, cried on his shoulder, and swore my heart out.

I don't remember when the last time I cried was. Usually, I would get moody and shut everyone out of my life until I felt better. But this time was different, I guess.

"That stupid son of a bitch thinks that I can leave everything behind!" I hissed. "I don't know who the hell he thinks he is-"

"He's our father," Frank mumbled softly.

"Out dad would not try to tear us apart. He would accept who we are, as long as we're happy."

------------

Frank took me to the park. Why the hell he chose the park was beyond me, but I really didn't care. I just wanted to get out of the house.

Phil came along too. He stayed silent for most of the ride there, but started talking the second Frank left to take a call. (Five bucks says it was Callie telling him when he was going to die.)

"So your dad's gonna move, and he wanted to drag you too. Why?"

"I dunno. I don't want to know." I sighed, sitting at the edge of the frozen fountain that we stood next to.

"Does he think Frank hates him?"

"Maybe. He did give Dad the evil eye."

"Impossible." I gave Phil a look, and he sighed as he looked up into the cloudy sky. "No matter what happens between Frank and someone else, he can't hate them."

"Yeah. There are a few exceptions to the rule, you know."

"Does your dad fit any of those exceptions?"

I thought it over for a sec. "I guess not."

"Your brother will forgive eventually. First, he needs an apology."

"Which he might never get. Dad's stubborn."

"Stubborn enough to move?"

"No." I closed my eyes. "Something's not adding up. And…"

"And what?"

"I just remembered…" I recalled the memory from over a month ago. "There was something in Dad's eyes when Frank came out to us. I was gonna ask about it, but I kept forgetting. It was… I think it was fear."

"Fear?" Phil frowned. "Why would he be scared?"

"I dunno. And there's no chance of asking him; he probably hates me because of my outburst, and he's leaving tomorrow."

"Kinda soon."

"You're telling me. I think he was gonna tell the rest of the family at dinner tonight, then leave."

"Wonder what your mom's going to say."

"Get pissed off, most likely. Then Aunt Trudy might fret- hell, she might even ask to move in with him!"

Phil chuckled. "Lots of faith in your aunt."

"Her first priority sometimes is to make sure Dad doesn't overextend himself."

"How would he do that? I thought he's retired."

I sighed. "He's going out of retirement. Opening a new detective agency."

"Damn."

"Yeah."

Frank walked back. "It's-"

"Callie, right?"

"No. George. They're leaving today."

--------------

The drive to the airport was quiet. I kept thinking about Dad. There was something about that fear… something that scared me…

"Hey! You got the news, too," Ivy said, standing off to the side with Callie.

"Where are they?"

She pointed to the escalator that led to another section for people to wait. "They're missing Ned, though. No one's seen him all day."

"Good riddance," Callie added.

"You didn't kill Frank yet," I observed.

"I'm not planning to. Between him and you, I would rather have him."

"I hate you."

Frank shook his head. "Anyone talk to Nancy? Or George?"

"George is trying to talk to Nancy. She's completely shut down." Callie shook her head. "I'm not sure what we're supposed to do."

"Offer to beat up Ned?" I suggested.

"That doesn't bring Bess back," Ivy said.

"Even if we did bring Bess back, there's still the fact that she killed," Phil pointed out. "If we had a time machine, that'll be a different issue."

"No point wishing for that. Let's go find them."

It took us a few minutes, a few questions, and me almost getting lost. We found them at the café in the end.

George nodded when she saw us. Nancy was sitting across from her, head resting in her arms.

"Hey," I said casually, trying to figure out what to say. _Sorry your friend had a crush on you, and became a killer because of you? And that your ex is a complete asshole?_

Nancy looked up. "Can you please kill Ned for me?"

"Alright!" Callie instantly agreed. Ivy rolled her eyes.

"Where is he?"

"Hell."

I looked at George. She shrugged. "No one's seen him. A teacher's supposed to stay here until he turns up. But all of us have to go. Most parents exploded over this. Mine included. They asked if this could have been prevented."

"What you tell them?"

"It could of. Anything could have stopped it, but it didn't happen."

No one said anything for a moment, until my brother looked at Nancy. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"Oh, sure." The sarcasm was hard not to notice. "Psychologist every day for who knows how long, and I lost someone that I could have possibly loved if I weren't with Ned."

"It'll get better eventually."

"Eventually should hurry up and come then."

He sighed. "Well, if you need to talk to anyone, we'll be here."

"Yeah, whatever." She stared at her drink, before adding, "Thanks."

George sighed. "How's your arm?"

"It could be better, but it could be worse too."

"Bess apologized in her confession."

"Okay…"

We were really running out of things to say. It was hard trying to tell them everything would be alright, in one way or another. Hell, we were still trying to recover from everything!

Time, on the other hand, knew exactly what it wanted to say.

"Everyone, come on!" one of the teachers called. "We're leaving now!"

"Well, this is goodbye," George mumbled, getting up.

"We'll see you again," I said. "Most likely, there's gonna be a mystery or something involved, but at least we'll be kidnapped together!"

Frank rolled his eyes. "Correction; _you'll_ be kidnapped, and we'll all be looking for you-"

"Hey, you got kidnapped too!"

"Not as much as you have."

"Well…" Crap. I was out of comebacks. And I hate resorting to the lame line that I almost always had to. Oh well. "Shut up."

We all shared a laugh, before wishing Nancy and George well. And promised to stay in contact. And promised to visit. And promised to kick Ned's ass.

The second we saw the place go up in the air, we started talking. Callie and Ivy were going to start a casual relationship. So that meant Frank would live. We laughed at that for a bit. Then I told them everything about what was going on.

"What?!" Callie immediately burst out. "Why the hell would he do that?!"

"You tell me." I thought for a second. "He called them when Frank was in the hospital. According to the guy that I talked to, he finalized the deal a few hours later."

"Why did he ask you to come?" Ivy asked.

"Beats me-"

"He's the lady's man." Frank rolled his eyes. "Exactly what Dad wishes me to be."

"Frank…" Phil rapped an arm around my brother.

"It'll take time," Ivy said.

"If he has even a little bit of love for me…"

"Why does it matter?" I muttered.

"He's our father-"

"But is his opinion really worth suffering? Be selfish, for once!" I slapped his arm lightly. "Go on a long date tonight! Show Dad you don't need him!"

"How can you say that? I mean, yeah, I'm mad at Dad. But he's been such an important part of our lives…"

"Because we can move on. And we have each other." I paused for a second. "Great, look what you made me do. I sounded corny!"

He laughed. Callie decided to join along with tormenting Frank. "There's a great restaurant that you should try…"

"Oh, God." He rolled his eyes, still smiling.

"Joe?" The new voice surprised me. I turned, and found myself face to face with a cute girl.

"Vanessa. Chemistry, right?" We didn't talk to each other, but we had been paired for some labs before.

"Yeah!" She seemed happy that I remembered her name. "I thought you wouldn't remember…"

"How could I forget a pretty face like yours?"

"Van, you could do better," Ivy whispered very loudly towards us. (Then again, was it really whispering?)

"Shut up, Ivy."

"Um…" Vanessa began to stare at the floor. "Well…"

"Oh, for crying out loud…" Callie pushed my head towards Vanessa. All of a sudden, I was lip locked with her.

Damn Callie. Damn them all for watching and jeering right now.

When we did finally break apart, Vanessa was blushing. I bet I was too. "Um… wouldyougooutwithme?"

A smile broke out across my face. "When, my schedule _is_ really tight-"

"He will." Callie pushed me again. "You will go on that long date you've been dreaming about for months-"

"Wait, what?"

"She had a big crush. And you're blind as a bat. Go!" Callie gave one last shove.

"Hey, like you should be talking! You and Ivy-"

"One more word Hardy, and you're dead!"

So, all in all, life went back to normal for a few hours. I didn't think about Dad moving. I didn't think about Bess, and all of the pain she went through. I didn't think about Ned that much when I received the news that he had gotten himself in a car accident.

Only one thing bothered me; that memory of Dad's face. It was like it refused to be forgotten again.

Why? Why was Dad so fearful? What could have done that?

* * *

Yeah... Joe finally gets a date!

So... there will be a sequel. "Till Death Do You Part" will (hopefully) be a nice (well, not so nice. There _is _killing, after all) way to wrap this up. However, please do note that when it's posted, you'll find it rated M. Why? Swears, blood, and the plot.

And thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed! *hugs everyone*


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